His children. Baber. Nasir. deh Begum. was defeated on the banks of the river Chirr, Hafiz Beg Duladai, who was in Uratippa, delivered it up to Omer-Sheikh Mirza, from which period it continued in his possession. He had three sons and five daughters. Of the sons I, Zehîreddîn Muhammed Baber, was the eldest. My mother was Kûtlak-Nigâr-Khânum. The second son was Jehângîr. Jehângîr Mirza, who was two years younger than myself. His mother was sprung of one of the chiefs of the race of the Moghul Tumans, and was named Fatima Sultan. The third was Nâsir Mirza, whose mother was of the country of Andejân, and a concubine, by name Umeid. He was four years younger than I. Of all the Khan-Za- daughters, the eldest was Khan-Zâdeh Begum, who was born of the same mother as myself, and was five years older than I. The second time that I took Samarkand, although my army was defeated at Sire-pûl, I threw myself into the town, and sustained a siege of five months; when, no succour or assistance coming from any of the neighbouring kings or Begs, in despair, I abandoned the place. During the confusion that ensued, Khan-Zâdeh Begum fell into the hands of Muhammed Sheibâni Khan, and had by him a son named Khurram Shah, a fine young man, who had the country of Balkh assigned to him; but, a year or two after his father's death, he was received into the mercy of God. When Shah Ismael defeated the Uzbeks at Merv, Khan-Zâdeh Begum was in that town; out of regard for me, he paid her every attention, and caused her to be conducted in the most honourable manner to join me at Kûndez.— We had been separated for ten years, when I and Muhammedi Gokultash went out to meet her; the Begum and her attendants did not know us, not even after I had spoken; but in a short while they recognized me. The second daughter was MeherMeherbanu bânu Begum, who was born of the same mother as Nâsir Mirza, and was two years Begum. Sheherba- older than I. The third daughter was Sheherbânu Begum, who was likewise born un Begum. of the same mother with Nâsir Mirza, and was eight years younger than I. The YadgarSul- fourth daughter was Yâdgâr Sultan Begum, whose mother, Agha Sultan, was a conRokhia cubine. The youngest daughter was Rokhîa Sultan Begum, whose mother, Sultan Makhdûm Begum, went by the name of Karagûz Begum, (the black-eyed princess.) These two last were born after the Mirza's death. Yâdgâr Sultan Begum was brought A. D. 1503. up by my grandmother Isan, Doulet Begum. When Muhammed Sheibâni Khan took Andejân and Akhsi, Yâdgâr Sultan Begum fell into the hands of Abdallatîf Sultan, A. D. 1511. the son of Khamzeh Sultan. When I defeated Khamzeh Sultan and the other Sultans in Khutlân, and took Hissâr, Yâdgâr Sultan Begum came and joined me. During those same troubles, Rokhîah Sultan Begum had fallen into the hands of Jâni Beg Sultan, by whom she had one or two sons, who died young. I have just received information that she has gone to the mercy of God. tan Begum. Sultan Begum. His wives. KûtlakNigârKhanum. The principal wife of Omer-Sheikh Mirza was Kutlak-Nigâr-Khânum, who was the second daughter of Yunis Khan, and the elder sister of Sultan Mahmûd Khan and 1 The Chirr, Sirr, or river of Khojend, the ancient Jaxartes. It is also called the river of Châch or Shâsh. 3 A well-educated Musulman is very unwilling to say directly that a man died. He uses some circumlocutory expression, which gives the fact by inference. of Yunis Sultan Ahmed Khan by the same mother. Yunis Khan was of the race of Chaghatâi Descent Khan, the second son of Chengîs Khan, and his genealogy runs thus: Yunis Khan, Khan. the son of Wais Khan, the son of Shîr Ali Oghlân, the son of Muhammed Khan, the son of Khazer Khwâjeh Khan, the son of Tughlûk Taimur Khan, the son of Aishbugha Khan, the son of Dawa Khan, the son of Burâk Khan, the son of Isan-bugha, the son of Mutukân, the son of Chaghatâi Khan, the son of Chengîs Khan. of the Since the opportunity thus presents itself, I shall now briefly state a few particulars History of regarding the history of the Khans. Yunis Khan and Isan-bugha Khan,' were the the Khans sons of Wais Khan. The mother of Yunis Khan was of Turkestân, and was either Moghuls. the daughter or grand-daughter of Sheikh Nûr-ed-dîn Beg, who was one of the Amîrs of Kipchâk, and had been brought forward by Taimur Beg. On the death of Wais Khan, the Ulûs (or Horde) of the Moghuls divided into two parties, one of which adhered to Yunis Khan, while the majority sided with Isan-bugha Khan. This Yunis occasioned a separation of the tribe. Before this time the elder sister of Yunis Khan Khan had been engaged by Ulugh Beg Mirza to be married to his son Abdal-Aziz Mirza. This connexion induced Airzin, who was a Beg of the Tuman of Nârin, and Mirak Turkman, who was a Beg of the Tûman of Khirâs, to carry Yunis Khan, attended by leaves Mothree or four thousand families3 of the tribe of Moghuls, to Ulugh Beg Mirza; in the ghulistan. expectation that, with the assistance which he could afford them, they might reduce the whole of the Moghul tribe under the authority of the Khan. The Mirza did not give them a favourable reception, but with great unkindness, imprisoned some, and dispersed the rest in all directions over the face of the country; so that "the Dispersion of Airzin" has become an era among the Moghuls. The Khan he sent into Irâk. Yunis Khan accordingly remained in Tabrîz for upwards of a year, at the time when Jehan-Shah Barani Kara-koilûk" (of the black sheep) was sovereign of Tabrîz. Thence he proceeded to Shirâz, where Shahrokh Mirza's second son, Ibrâhîm Sultan Mirza, then reigned. Five or six months after his arrival, this prince died, and was succeeded by his son Abdulla Mirza. The Khan engaged in the service of Abdulla Mirza, and remained in Shirâz and that country for seventeen or eighteen years. When the disturbances between Ulugh Beg Mirza and his sons broke out, Isan-bugha Khan, seizing the opportunity, came and plundered the country of Ferghâna, as far as Kend-bâdâm, took Andejân, and made all the inhabitants prisoners. Sultan Abusaîd had no sooner mounted the throne, than he collected an army, advanced beyond Yângi, and gave Isan-bugha Khan a severe defeat, at a town in Moghulistan, 6 Also called Aisbûgha Khan. 4 2 These Tumans are the septs or divisions of the larger tribes or associations. 5 Literally houses; the Tartars reckon the numbers of the families in their tribes by households, tents, and sometimes by kettles. This happened in the lifetime of Shahrokh Mirza, Ulugh Beg's father, who had given the government of Samarkand to his son. The Kara-koiluk or Kara-koinlû Turkomans, that is, the Turkomans of the black sheep, so called from their banner, are celebrated in the history of Persia and of Baghdad. Yangi, or Yengi-kent, that is New Town, the Alkarieh-al-jadideh of the Arabian geographers, better B Restored. Marries Begum. named Ashpera. In order still more effectually to secure himself from such inroads, he was induced by his connexion with Yunis Khan, to invite him back from Irâk and Khorasan, Yunis Khan's elder sister having been married to Abdalazîz Mirza. On the Khan's arrival he made a great feast, received him in the most friendly manner, acknowledged him as Khan of the tribe of Moghuls, and sent him into their country to assert his rights. At that time it happened that all the Begs of the Tuman of Sagharichi had come to Moghûlistân, highly displeased with Isan-bugha Khan. Yunis Khan went among them. The greatest of the Begs of the Sagharichi, was then Shîr Haji Beg, whose daughter, Ais-doulet Begum, Yunis Khan married. Shir Haji Beg having seated the Khan and Ais-doulet Begum on a white felt,' according to the Tûreh, or ancient Institutions of the Moghuls, they proclaimed him Khan. The Khan had three daughters by Ais-doulet Begum, of whom the eldest was Meher-nigâr Khanum, whom Sultan Abusaîd Mirza took for his eldest son Sultan Ahmed Mirza. By the Mirza she had neither son nor daughter. In the succeeding wars she fell into the hands of Sheibâni Khan; but after I went to Kâbul, she accompanied Shah Begum from Samarkand to Khorasân, and thence to Kâbul. When Sheibâni Khan invested Nâsir Mirza in Kandahâr, I proceeded to Lamghân, and Khan Mirza, Shah Begum, and Meher-Nigâr Khanum, set out for Badakhshan. Mobârek-shah having invited Khan Mirza to the fortress of Zafer, they were met on the road, attacked and plundered by one of Abu-beker Kashghari's marauding parties, and Shah Begum and Meher-Nigâr Khanum, with their whole family and attendants, were taken nigår Kha- prisoners; and, in the prisons of that wicked miscreant, they departed from this perishable world. Yunis Khan's Children. Meher num. Kutlak Nigar Kha num. The second daughter, Kutlûk Nigâr Khanum, was my mother, and accompanied me in most of my wars and expeditions. Five or six months after the taking of Kâbul A. D. 1505. she departed to God's mercy, in the year 911. Khub-nigâr The third daughter was Khûb Nigâr Khanum, who was married to Muhammed Hussain Korkân Doghlet. He had by her one daughter and one son. The daughter married Abeid Khan, and when I took Bokhâra and Samarkand, was residing there, and being unable to effect her escape, staid behind: when her paternal uncle Syed Muhammed Mirza came to me in Samarkand as ambassador from Sultan Saîd Khan,3 she accompanied him back, and was married to Sultan Saîd Khan. She had a son, HaiA. D. 1503. der Mirza, who, after his father was slain by the Uzbeks, entered my service and re known as Otrâr, is a city of Turkestân low down on the river Sirr. Ashpera, which is mentioned in the histories of Tamerlane, lies N.E. from it, on a small river which flows towards the Sirr. 1 Petis de la Croix, in his history of Genghiscan, describing the general diet held by that prince at Tonkat, says, "They erected a magnificent throne for Genghiscan, and forgot not to place on an eminence the black felt-carpet on which this prince was seated when he was proclaimed Grand Can. And this emblem of the poor estate of the Mogols at that time was always held in great veneration by them so long as their Empire lasted."-P. 358. Eng. Translation. See also Hist. de Timur-Bec, vol. I. p. 78. 2 Muhammed Hussain Korkân Doghlet held the government of Uratippa under Sultan Mahmûd Khan. 3 Sultan Said Khan was Prince of Kâshghar. mained in it three or four years; he then took leave of me and went to Kâshghar to the Khan; but as Everything returns to its original principles, it is said that he has now adopted a commendable course of life and become reformed. He excels in penmanship, in painting, in fletchery, in making arrow-heads, and thumblets for drawing the bow-string. He is remarkably neat at all kinds of handywork. He has also a turn for poetry, and I have received an epistle from him, the style1 of which is by no means bad. re Khan. Another of the Khan's wives was Shah Begum; though he had other wives besides Shah Bethese, yet he had children by these two only. Shah Begum was the daughter of Shah gum. Sultan Muhammed, King of Badakhshân. The Kings of Badakhshân are said to trace back their descent to Sekander Filkûs.2 This Sultan Muhammed had also another daughter, elder than Shah Begum, who was married to Sultan Abusaîd Mirza, and bore to him Ababekir Mirza. Yunis Khan had two sons and two daughters by Shah Begum. Among these, Sultan Mahmûd Khan was younger than the three daughters Sultan who have been mentioned, and elder than the other three children. In Samarkand and Mahmûd these quarters he is generally called Janikeh Khan. Sultan Ahmed Khan was younger Sultan Ahthan Sultan Mahmûd Khan, and is well known by the name of Ilcheh Khan. He med Khan. ceived this denomination from the following circumstance :-In the language of the Kilmâks and Moghuls, they call a slayer Ilaji; and, as he several times overcame the Kilmâks with great slaughter, he on that account was generally spoken of under the name of Ilaji, which, in pronunciation, was converted into Ilcheh. It will often be necessary to make mention of these Khans in this history, when their transactions and affairs shall be fully detailed. Sultan Nigâr-Khanum was the youngest of all the fa- Sultan Nimily, except one daughter. She was given in marriage to Sultan Mahmûd Mirza (the går-Kha. son of Sultan Abusaîd Mirza), by whom she had one son, named Sultan Wais, who will be mentioned in the sequel. After the death of Sultan Mahmûd Mirza, this princess, having taken her son along with her, without giving any notice of her intention, proceeded to Tashkend to her brothers. A few years afterwards, her brother married her to Uzbek Sultan, one of the Sultans of the Kizâks," who was descended of Juji Khan, the eldest son of Chengîs Khan. When Sheibâni Khan defeated the The Insha, or Art of letter-writing, in Persian, is quite a science, requiring a long study to be perfectly understood. It is generally the art of telling insignificant things in an involved and rhetorical style. The number of bienseances to be observed, is quite overwhelming. 2 Alexander the son of Philip, concerning whom the Persians have many traditions and idle stories. The King of Derwâz, a small territory north of Badakhshân, still claims descent from the Macedonian hero. 3 The Kilmâks, or Kalemâks, are our Kalmuks, one of the chief divisions of the Moghuls. 4 The Persian has Awîk Sultan. The Kirghis tribes at this day call themselves Sara-Kaizâk, or robbers of the desert, and occupy the deserts about Tâshkend. The name Cossack is a corruption of the same word. num. Khans, and took Tâshkend and Shahrokhîa, she fled with ten or twelve of her Moghul attendants to Uzbek Sultan, by whom she had two daughters: one of them was given to one of the Sheibâni Sultans, and the other to Rashid Sultan, a son of Sultan Saîd Khan. After the death of Usbek Sultan, she married Kâsim Khan, the chief of the horde of the Kizâks. It is said that no one of the Khans or Sultans of the Kizaks ever kept the horde in such complete order as Kâsim Khan. His army amounted to nearly three hundred thousand fighting men. After the death of Kâsim Khan, she went to Doulet Sul- Kâshghar to Sultan Saîd Khan Kâshghari. Doulet Sultan Khanum, who was the youngest daughter of all, at the sack of Tâshkend fell into the hands of Taimur Sultan, the son of Sheibâni Khan. By him she had one daughter. She left Samarkand along with me, and lived three or four years in Badakhshân, after which she went to Kâshghar to Sultan Saîd Kâshghari.2 tan Kha num. Omar. Another of Omar-Sheikh Mirza's wives was Ulûs Aghâi, the daughter of Khwâjeh other wives. Hussain Beg; by her he had one daughter, who died young. A year, or a year and a UlûsAghai. half after her marriage, she was removed from the Haram. Fatima Sul Another of his wives was Fatima Sultan Agha, who was the daughter of one of the tan Agha. Begs of the Moghul Tumans. Omar-Sheikh Mirza married her first of all his wives. There was yet another named Karagûz Begum (or the black-eyed Princess), whom he married towards the end of his days. She was tenderly beloved by Omar-Sheikh Mirza, and, in order to flatter him, they affected to derive her origin from Minocheher Mirza, the elder brother of Sultan Abusaîd Mirza. Karagûz His concubines. His Amîrs. di Taimurtâsh. He had many women and concubines. One of them was Omeid Aghâcheh, who died before the Mirza. In the Mirza's latter days he had one called Yûn Sultan, of Moghul extraction. Another was Agha Sultan. Of his Amîrs, one was Khoda-berdi Taimurtâsh,3 who was of the family of the elder Khoda-ber- brother of Akbugha Beg, the Hâkim of Heri. When Sultan Abusaîd Mirza besieged Juki Mirza in Shahrokhîah, he gave the country of Ferghâna to Omar-Sheikh Mirza, and sent Khoda-berdi Taimurtâsh with him as Master of his Household. At that time Khoda-berdi Taimurtâsh was only about twenty-five years of age, but young as he was, his method, his arrangements, and regulations were excellent. One or two years afterwards, when Ibrâhim Begchak ravaged the territory of Ush, Khoda-berdi Taimurtâsh having pursued and overtaken him, a severe battle ensued, in which Khoda-berdi was defeated and slain. When this event occurred, Sultan Ahmed Mirza was among the Yailâk (or summer habitations) of Uratippa, called Ak Kechghai, eighteen farsangs to the east of Samarkand, and Sultan Abusaîd Mirza was at Babakhâki, which is twelve farsangs to the east of Heri, when this intelligence was transmitted to him 6 1 The Chief of Kâshghar. 2 Here closes the long digression concerning the family of Baber's mother. He next proceeds to mention his father's other wives. 3 Most Tûrki names, both of persons and places, have some signification. given-of-God, and Taimurtâsh, iron-stone. Thus Khoda-berdi means • About forty-eight miles. |