The long reign of his son and successor, Suffee NIeerza, who upon his accession assumed the name of Soliman, is not marked by any event of importance. He was cha racterized by the same unwarlikc and dissolute habits which distinguished his father and grandfather ; and his whole time was divided between the pleasures of the ta ble and the haram. During this reign, and also the suc ceeding one of the meek but imbecile and superstitious Hussein, eunuchs were exalted to all the first offices of the state, to the disgust and resentment of the nobles of the empire. This conduct, however, provoked neither op position nor revolt. The spirit of the nation had been gradually declining, and the peace of a century had ren dered them both insensible to the approach of danger, and incapable of resistance.
The reign of Hussein is memorable chiefly for the in vasion and subjugation of the empire by the Affghans in 1722. This race had long inhabited the mountainous re gion between Persia and India. Divided into tribes, where the chief and his followers enjoyed the same savage freedom, they opposed every attempt to reduce then' to one society, whose common danger and wants would have cemented their union, and rendered them formidable to their neighbours. In consequence of this disunion, they were never able to resist any serious attack, and their country was long divided between the monarchs of Per sia and India. They were, in general, however, able to maintain a considerable degree of independence by ba lancing between these two powerful states.
The most formidable of the Affghan-tribes were those of Ghiljee and Abdallee, who had become subjects of Persia when Abbas the Great had taken possession of Candahar. The former of these tribes had their pasture lands in the vicinity of that city, and during the reigns of the successors of Abbas, had been both dangerous and turbulent subjects. They had often shown a disposition to revolt, and it was apprehended that the court of Delhi looked to the possession of Candahar through their means. In order to check this spirit of insurrection, Goorgeen Khan, the Prince of Georgia, one of the ablest and bravest officers in Persia, was appointed to the government of that province. But his oppressions and injustice hasten ed the very catastrophe which he was sent to prevent. Meer Vais, an artful and able Affghan chief, who held the high office of principal magistrate of the city of Can dahar, and who had grievously suffered from the tyranny of the new governor, persuaded his countrymen to rise and revenge their wrongs. " It is better," howeve•, said he, " to strike the lion sleeping than awake. Be secret and faithful, trust your cause to me, and be assured I will take a terrible vengeance upon our enemies." The wily Affghan so dissembled his resentment, that Goorgeen Khan accepted an invitation to a sumptuous entertain ment prepared for him by Meer Vais, where he and all his attendants were murdered. The Affghans immediately seized the fort of Candahar, and raised the standard of independence. The intelligence of this insurrection came like a thunderbolt upon the effeminate court of Ispahan ; but the despicable advisers of Hussein, instead of send ing an army to crush the growing evil, dispatched an am bassador to persuade Meer Vais to submission. "Let
thy king raise or let fall his arm as he pleases," said the determined chief, " if he were as formidable as thou sagest he is, it would be with deeds, not empty words, he would oppose our just designs." " Our swords are now drawn, and shall never be sheathed till your king is de throned and your country subdued." War was now the only alternative, but the Affghans were victorious, and Meer Vais in a few years became the undisputed master of Candahar, which he constituted an independent king dom. The death of this chief, however, delayed for a time the execution of his more ambitious plans.
His son, Mahmood, being only eighteen years of age, the government devolved upon his brother Meer Abdullah. This weak and timid ruler recommended an accommoda tion with Persia, which excited such general discontent and indignation among the Affghan chiefs, that he was soon cut off, and Mahmood proclaimed sovereign of Can dahar. This prince, who was of a fierce and warlike disposi tion, having firmly established his power, contemplated with high hopes the subjugation of Persia. This unfor tunate country was at this period depressed by the va cillating measures of its pusillanimous ruler. Dangers assailed her on every side ; the irruptions of the Usbegs and Abdallee Affghans into Khorassan, the ravages of the Kurd, in the western frontier, the attacks of the Arabs on the south, and the invasion of Mahmood on the west, all called for the most prompt and vigorous resistance. But the energies of the empire were extinguished by ef feminacy and palsied by superstition. An unusual dense ness in the atmosphere, accompanied with an extraordinary redness in the appearance of the sun on the horizon, which continued for nearly two months, was converted into a symbol of divine wrath, and prince and people an ticipated the destruction of the capital. Every measure which fanaticism could suggest was adopted to avert the threatenings of heaven ; but their fears were confirmed by the intelligence that the army of the Affghan prince was within a few days march of Ispahan. This army, it is said, did not exceed twenty thousand warriors, while the Persian forces within the walls of the city were more than double its numbers. But treachery and cowardice laid Persia at the feet of Mahmood, and after a long siege, unexampled in horrors,* Ispahan opened her gates, and Hussein resigned his crown to the Affghan conqueror. His son, Tamasp, who had escaped from Ispahan during the siege, and had attempted a diversion in favour of his father, but without effect, now assumed the title and state of a king ; but he was unfitted to struggle with the perils of the unsettled times in which he lived, and it may be said that with Shah Hussein terminated the Suffavean dynasty. This weak but virtuous prince was distinguish ed for great kindness of heart, and extreme gentleness of temper ; but his meekness and bigotry were equally de structive to his country as the vices of his predecessors, and he had the misfortune to be surrounded by crafty and evil counsellors, some of whom sought the promo tion of their own selfish views in the downfall of their country.