As the third son of Haydar, he had small chance of succeeding to the throne; but he kept that goal constantly in view during his father’s lifetime, and paved the way thither by pandering to the greed of the military caste. No opportunity was lost of gaining adherents among the Amīr’s courtiers. Hākim Bi, the Kushbegi, or vezīr, and his father-in-law Ayāz Topchi-bāshi,[486] who held an important military command, were devoted to his interests.[487] On Haydar’s death, his eldest son, Husayn Khān, took possession of the citadel of Bokhārā and was proclaimed Amīr. He received fervent assurances of loyalty from Nasrullah, who was the while actively plotting to subvert his authority, and who held a council of war at Karshī, at which Mū´min Beg Dādkhāh, one of Husayn’s chief lieutenants, assisted. At this crisis he learnt that his brother had died suddenly after a reign of barely three months, and took immediate steps to assert his claims.[488] He obtained a legal decision in his favour from the chief-justice of Karshī, who also invited the clergy of Samarkand to espouse his cause. In the meantime another brother named `Omar Khān seized the reins of power at Bokhārā, and sent orders to the governor of Samarkand on no account to surrender his charge. But on Nasrullah’s arrival the gates were flung open to him by the influence of the mullās, and he was enthroned on the famous Blue Stone, or Kok-tāsh, whereon nearly every Amīr since Tīmūr’s reign had received investiture. Then began a triumphant progress throughout the realm. Katti-Kurgān, Kerminé, and other cities surrendered to the pretender, who replaced their governors by creatures of his own, and bade the former swell his train. Thus attended, he arrived before Bokhārā and closely invested the city. Starvation soon decimated its swarming population. A pound of meat sold for seven _tangas_,[489] flour was introduced through Nasrullah’s trenches in coffins, and the stench of stagnant water in the irrigation canals grew intolerable. The Kushbegi and his father-in-law Ayāz took advantage of the people’s agony to proffer their submission, and undertook to give the signal of capitulation by blowing up an ancient cannon, said to have weighed nearly thirteen tons.[490] On hearing the muffled roar of the explosion, Nasrullah immediately attacked the city from two quarters, and entered it in triumph on the 22nd March 1826. `Omar saved his life by instant flight, but three of his brothers, with many of their adherents, were butchered in cold blood.[491] [Illustration: COURT-YARD OF A HOUSE IN SAMARKAND]