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THE ORIENTAL ANNUAL. 
acknowledge his duty, and to perform his fealty 
to his lawful sovereign, presenting that prince with 
many valuable tokens of his submission and respect. 
Hence Moolluk Raja manifested no jealousy towards 
him ; although he was fain to observe that so impreg- 
nable a stronghold as that of Aseer, in the very centre 
of his kingdom, would place any monarch at the 
mercy of its possessor, had he been an unruly or 
ambitious man. Moolluk Raja died, and was suc- 
ceeded on the musnud by Nazur Kahn, and to him 
also Asa Aheer hastened to perform his homage, 
accompanying it with substantial proofs of his sin- 
cerity. But although Nazur Kahn, knowing the 
kindly disposition of the herdsman chief, felt himself 
perfectly secure from any evil design on his part, he 
was led away by avarice and jealousy to plot his 
downfal. So true is the proverb, that “ although 
a rug will accommodate ten dervishes, yet the largest 
kingdom is insufficient for two rulers.” This crafty 
prince, observing that the peaceable and blameless 
conduct of Asa Aheer would supply him with no 
pretext for accusation or open assault, determined 
upon gaining Aheer by stratagem ; and for the pur- 
pose of carrying his base design into effect, he had 
recourse to the following expedient, forgetting, 
doubtless, that a much smaller measure of duplicity 
would have sufficed to circumvent his unsuspicious 
victim. 
The prince wrote a complimentary letter to Asa 
