AND ITS FOUNDER. 397 



father; when, by a sudden assault, he gained possession of Ghazni. 

 Finding himself unable to maintain himself in this position, after sacking 

 the city, he was compelled to evacuate it. But as he retired, he was vi» 

 gorously attacked by the Hazdrah, in the vicinity of Ghazm, and perished 

 in the eonEi6l, 



The Hazdrali are a distinct race from either the Afghans, or the Mb o-- 

 huh, though their tribes are much intermixed with these and other races. 

 Their original seat is supposed to have been the country between Herat and 

 Balkh; but their possessions extend much wider, and they occupy a con- 

 siderable part of the districts which lie between Ghazni and Kandahar, iit 

 one direction, and between Maiddn and Balkh in the other. The learned 

 AiBU L Faz'el, has stated in the Ayin Acbari, that the Hazdrah are of 

 Moghul origin, and that they sprang from the remains of an army sent by 

 Mangu' Khan to the assistance of his brother Hola'ku'. But this opinion 

 seems not to be founded on any authority ; and the Hazdrah themselves 

 maintain that they are the original inhabitants of the country. In the 

 reign of Ac bar, the Hazdrah appear, from the Ayin Acban, to have 

 occupied several extensive districts, in the divisions of both Kandahar, and 

 Gdbul. In the division of Kandahar, th^y occupied the district of Tarin ; 

 which, in the military census of the Moghul empire, is rated at one thou- 

 sand live. hundred cavalry, and three thousand infantry. The Hazdrahtuh^ 

 Maiddni, also occupied the extensive district oi Maiddn, in the division of 

 Cdbul ,v^\\\z\\ is rated at two thousand cavalry; and, in conjunction with a 

 Turkman tribe, they occupied the district of Gh6'band,m the sam3 division, 

 which is rated at three thousand cavalry, aid five tbousai d infantry. 

 From every information that I have been ab'c to procure, re!at s'e to the 

 Hazdrah, I am inclined to think ihemo^P.ahlavi extraction. The Pahlavi' 



