130 HISTORY OF AURANGZIB. [CHAP. VII. course of trade that provisions grew very dear in the city in spite of the natural abundance of the district, and the houses were extended till the suburbs became larger than the city itself.* From its position Qandahar was naturally a bone of contention between Past history of India and Persia. Early in the Qandahar: sixteenth century two powerfu! monarchies strang up side by side, when Babar conquered Delhi and Shah Ismail founded the glorious "Sophy" dynasty in Persia. In 1522 Babar finally wrested the province of Qandahar from the Arghun family who had held it under nominal submission to the ruler of Herat. On his death, it passed as an appanage to his younger son Kamran. In 1545, Humayun, then a fugitive from India, captured the fort from his brother Askari, but broke his promise of ceding it to the son of the Persian king, who had given him shelter and whose forces had aided the conquest. But this breach of faith availed him little. In the troubles following Humayun's death and Akbar's minority, the Persian king conquered Qandahar (1558) and bestowed it on his nephew Sultan Husain Mirza. Akbar's turn came in 1594, when Sultan Husain's successor,
- Purchas, 1.519-528, as quoted in Kerr, ix. 209, 212, 213.
Tavernier, i. 90. Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
