_ 180 _ because he is old and poor, and, as I say, there is little help in this country for his affairs here, because five or six years have passed, with heavy charges and expenses and such things that lead to bankruptcy. Ibrahim Khan alone, the ruler of Shiraz who attacked Mughistan, took on thousand five hundred leques from the kingdom, and five hundred are still owing to him according to the peace agreement. An agent of his is in this city demanding them, and I cannot at present see how they can be paid. At the beginning of the war in Mughistan the captain was Martim Afonso, with soldiers from this country as well as Portuguese, and what happened was the opposite of what we wished, for five or six hundreds of our men were killed in a battle. Belchior de Sousa was going with fifty or sixty Portuguese to defend Minab and was defeated on the way by four or five hundred horsemen of Ibrahim Khan, and it was no mean achievement to withdraw to the caturs. This turned out very badly, and the fortress of Minab was taken, and it was necessary for me to make the peace arrangements according to the situation. Martim Afonso withdrew, and I agreed with the decision of the important men of the kingdom for fear that everything would clearly be lost if we did otherwise, not only the affairs
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