this disposition to good account." In fact the prince was guilty of a great oversight; nevertheless Niamet-ullah-khan, of his own accord, went away directly, and putting himself at the head of his own numerous brigade, marched straight to the imperial tents, where he found that Zulficar-khan had already gone to his camp, and was in the middle of his troops, so that he missed the opportunity of seizing him as he had determined.
It must be observed that Azim-ush-shan had always exercised great power in his father's lifetime, under whom he acted as his lieutenant, whether in signing papers or in the transaction of business, and the whole of the household, which he commanded, was devoted to him, so that he found no difficulty in taking possession of his father's treasures and ascending the throne—a step which afforded confidence and satisfaction to the troops in camp: but this was not the case with all classes.[1] Those who looked more narrowly into affairs were apprehensive of trouble and bloodshed; so that whoever could provide himself with a carriage or a beast of burthen, hastened to send his family with his effects into Lahore during the night, whilst others went within the imperial enclosure, and took up their abode there.[2]
