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416 CRUELTIES OF THE AFGHANS. 
of all decrees, against the dangerous impulses of wine, in this 
inflammatory climate. 
At a considerable distance from the Chehel Setoon, to the left 
of the gardens, stands the winter palace, containing the harem, 
royal arsenal, and stables; where Ashreff, the second tyrant of 
the Afghan invaders, held his short but cruel sway over Persia; 
and which he stained with the blood of its native prince, the 
captive Shah Houssain. At the time the horrid deed was com- 
mitted, the arms of the renowned Kouli Khan (who was after¬ 
wards the equally infamous usurper Nadir Shah) had prevailed 
over the Afghans; and having rescued his country, he made a 
feint of restoring Shah Tliamas, the son of the murdered king, 
and the last of the race of the great Shah Abbas. When the 
young monarch walked through these courts and these chambers, 
and he saw the desolation that had been made of their ancient 
splendour, and beheld the traces of the many horrors which had 
spotted them with the blood of his family, he burst into tears; 
and would not be persuaded to rejoice in what was restored, 
while memory pressed so heavily on him the recollection of so 
much that had been lost. In one of the interior apartments, 
to which he retired alone to give way to his affliction unnoticed, 
he was met by a female slave in the meanest dress, who suddenly 
clasped him in her arms ; a few words told him it was his mother. 
She had disguised herself as a slave, when the Afghans first 
took possession of the capital; and had not only worn the habit, 
but performed the lowest offices for seven years j to escape, by 
remaining unknown, the ignominious fate of the other Sefi 
ladies ; and to watch over, unsuspected, the perilous captivity of 
her royal husband. 
Close to the winter palace, stands a superb structure lately 
