enterprise, we can conjecture none but an
insatiable desire of plunder, a wish to exercise that military spirit he
had kindled in the Persians, or the ambitious view of annexing the vast
dominions of the sovereign of Delhi to the crown of Persia. But if he
ever cherished this latter project he must have been led by a near view
of the condition of the empire of India, to reject it as wholly
impracticable. We are, however, compelled to respect the greatness of
that mind which could resolve, at the very moment of its achievement,
upon the entire abandonment of so great a conquest; for he did not even
try to establish a personal interest at the court of Delhi, except
through the operation of those sentiments which his generous conduct in
replacing him upon his throne might make upon the mind of Mahomet Shah.

Nadir claimed, as a prize which he had won, the wealth of the Emperor
and a great proportion of that of his richest nobles and subjects. The
whole of the jewels that had been collected by a long race of
sovereigns, and all the contents of the imperial treasury, were made
over by Mahomet Shah to the conqueror. The principal nobles, imitating
the example of their monarch, gave up all the money and valuables which
they possessed. After these voluntary gifts, as they were termed, had
been received, arrears of revenue were demanded from distant provinces,
and heavy impositions were laid upon the richest of the inhabitants of
Delhi. The great misery caused by these impositions was considerably
augmented by the corrupt and base character of the Indian agents
employed, who actually farmed the right of extortion of the different
quarters of the city to wretches who made immense fortunes by the
inhuman speculation, and who collected, for every ten thousand rupees
they paid into Nadir's treasury, forty and fifty thousand from the
unhappy inhabitants, numbers of whom perished under blows that were
inflicted to make them reveal their wealth; while others, among whom
were several Hindus of high rank, became their own executioners rather
than bear the insults to which they were exposed, or survive the loss of
that property which they valued more than their existence.

The approach of Nadir Shah to Delhi had filled the inhabitants of that
city with dread; but the strict discipline which his troops observed on
their first arrival restored confidence to all. This, however, was but
of short duration. The monarch himself had occupied a p