462 A HISTORY OF PERSIA. by the English Government, and he, therefore, determined to place upon the throne of Herat, a ruler who would owe his advancement to the good-will of the Persian govern- ment. He found a man suited to this purpose in the person of Sultan Ahmed Khan, a Barukzye, and who was the nephew and son-in-law of Dost Mahomed Khan. The terms upon which Sultan Ahmed Khan was to receive the aid of Persian influence and Persian gold, to enable him to establish himself at Herat, were these : He was, of his own accord, to strike coin in the name of the Shah, and to cause the " Khotbeh," or prayer for the Suzerain, to be read for the Persian king in the mosques of Herat. Thus, although Persian troops should no longer remain on Affghan soil, and though by Treaty the Shah should renounce all pretensions to sovereignty over Herat, his coin would stih 1 be the current coin of that principality, and every Affghan who should attend at the mosques, would know that his immediate ruler acknowledged the Shah of Persia to be his Suzerain. In the powerlessness of Sultan Ahmed Khan, if not in his good-faith, the Sedr- Azem saw a guarantee for the fulfilment of his part of the stipulation. Sultan Ahmed accordingly lost no time in hurrying eastwards, in order that he might receive possession of Herat from Prince Sultan Murad. In his anxiety to communicate personally with that general he forgot the circumstance that the prince was as yet ignorant of the terms of the agreement that had been concluded at Tehran ; and he also overlooked the fact that the Persian commander and his soldiers had at last tasted a much longed-for fruit, which, like that found by the Lotus-eaters, made them forget the way to their homes. Hastening to the tent of the Persian
