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98 THE KOH-I-NUR.
birthplace
of Baber, while Baber's descendants on the throne of Delhi helplessly
mourned its loss. It went from father to son safely enough for two
generations in the land of the Afghans, and then its evil spell began
to work once more.
In
1793, just after its rival, the Regent, had been lost and found in the
midst of the French Revolution, the Koh-i-nur passed by inheritance
into the hands of Taimur Shah, the king of Cabul. He left it along with
his crown and his kingdom to Raman Shah, his eldest son. Raman had
enjoyed the triple inheritance for only a few years when his brother
rose in arms against him, and being successful, as most rebels are in
Afghanistan, followed the old established etiquette of the Cabul royril
family : — the messengers of Shah Shuja, the triumphant rebel, met
their deposed sovereign on his way to the capital, and they put out his
eyes by piercing the eyeballs repeatedly with a lancet.
This done, Shah Shuja sat himself down to enjoy the sweets of Asiatic power. The Koh-
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