158 THE ORIENTAL ANNUAL. 
upon him by Mohummed Kahn, refused to comply 
with the terms of the compact, and retained in his 
own % hands the sole administration of affairs. And 
now again deeming that he was too firmly fixed in 
power to be shaken from his seat, he excited the 
discontent and hatred of the nobles by renewed acts 
of tyranny and insolence ; so that in a very few days 
he incurred the vengeance which his infamy merited. 
Mohummed Kahn, indulging the natural ferocity 
of his heart, swore to accomplish his destruction, and 
in concert with other malcontents plotted his death 
by the hand of the assassin. 
Having ascertained that the minister was about to 
march to Agra upon state business, they, as if un de- 
signedly, encamped under the walls of Deig, through 
which town he would of necessity pass, and when 
Mirza Zaffi approached, they engaged in a feigned 
dispute of a riotous nature among themselves touch- 
ing the boundaries of certain lands. When the 
cause of the tumult was reported to the Vizier, he 
signified his pleasure to adjust the difference and 
decide upon the claim, and for that purpose ordered 
his elephant to be driven into the camp of the 
disputants, where, meeting face to face his rivals and 
their supporters, the Mirza wisely treated them with 
unwonted respect and courtesy. He directed his ele- 
phant to approach that of Mohummed Kahn, who in 
compliance with ancient usage rose in his hdoda , 
saluted and embraced the Vizier, and in so doing 
