Shah Soojah’s ancestors commenced with Ahmed Shah. Nadir Shah, the celebrated conqueror, was assassinated in 1747, upon which Abdullah Ahmed Khan proclaimed himself King, under the name of Ahmed Shah; his son, Tymoor Shah, succeeding him in 1773, and in 1793, he died, and the government was then broken up. Shah Zemaun, the son of Tymoor, mounted the throne of Cabul, whilst Humayoon seized upon Candahar; Abbass on Peshawer, and Hajee Feroz-oo-deen, and Mahmood on Heart, all sons of Tymoor, by different mothers. Political rivalry then sprung up, and Shah Zemaun dispossessed Humayoon of Candahar, took him prisoner, and cruelly put out his eyes. He also seized upon Peshawer, and compelled Abbass to relinquish, and placed him in confinement. A conspiracy amongst the nobles and chiefs at Candahar then existed, and terminated by dethroning Shah Zemaun, and placing his brother Shah Soojah-Ool-Moolk on the throne. Sketches in Afghanistan, Henry Graves & Co. and W.H. Allen & Co., London, 1842. Letterpress title printed in blue incorporating list of plates, tinted lithographic title, dedication leaf, 25 tinted plates by Louis and Charles Haghe. This is one of the earliest collections of views of Afghanistan. James Atkinson, the celebrated translator of Firdausi’s Shah Nameh and one of the first Europeans to explore Afghanistan, was on of the pioneers of oriental studies. The lithographers Louis and Charles Haghe were involved in a number of important publications in the 1840’s and 1850’s and are celebrated for the particular high quality of their work.