Those who have travelled in Misr and Shâm1 acknowledge that nothing there is comparable to it. Though there are other Tumâns dependant on Samarkand, yet they are not equal to those which have been mentioned. in Samar. Taimur Beg conferred the government of Samarkand on his son Jehângîr; and Succession after the death of Jehângîr Mirza, he gave it to that prince's eldest son, Muhammed of Princes Sultan. Jehângîr-Shahrokh Mirza conferred the government of all the provinces of kand. Mâweralnaher on his own eldest son Ulugh Beg Mirza, from whom it was taken by his son Abdal-latîf Mirza; who, for the sake of the enjoyments of this fleeting and transitory world, murdered his own father, an old man so illustrious for his knowledge. The date of the death of Ulugh Beg Mirza is contained in the following memorial verses: 2 Ulugh Beg, the ocean of learning and science, Who was the protector of this lower world, And the date of his death is (Abâs kûsht) — Abâs slew him. Yet his son did not retain the diadem above five or six months; the following verses were applied to him: Ill does sovereignty befit a parricide: But should he gain it, let six months be the utmost limit of his reign. The date of his death is also expressed in memorial verses: Abdal-latif, who rivalled the pomp of Khosrou and Jemshid, And the date of the event is (Bâbâ Hussain kûsht)—Baba Hussain slew him. After Abdal-latîf Mirza, Abdulla Mirza, the son of Ibrâhîm Sultan Mirza, and grandson of Shahrokh Mirza, and the son-in-law of Ulugh Beg Mirza, mounted the throne, and reigned one year and a half, or nearly two years. After him the government was seized by Sultan Abusaîd Mirza, who, in his own lifetime, conferred the government on his eldest son Sultan Ahmed Mirza. After the death of Sultan Abusaid Mirza, Sultan Ahmed Mirza continued to exercise the sovereignty. On the death of Sultan Ahmed Mirza, Sultan Mahmud Mirza ascended the throne. After Sultan Mahmûd Mirza, Baiesanghar Mirza was raised to the throne. During the sedition of the Terkhân Begs, Baiesanghar Mirza was seized, and his brother Sultan Ali Mirza placed on the throne for one or two days. Baiesanghar Mirza again recovered it, as has been related. I took it from Baiesanghar Mirza. The events that followed will be mentioned in the course of these Memoirs. 1 Egypt and Syria. To commemorate any important event, or to fix the date in the memory, the Persians make much use of memorial verses, in which a certain number of letters have a numerical value, that added together give the required date. Thus Abâs-kûsht gives 853. 3. The numerical letters united make 854. Distressed state of Samarkand. Baber's troops begin to desert. Tambol asks Ande jân and Excites a rebellion. When I mounted the throne of Samarkand, I showed the same favour and grace to the great lords of Samarkand that they had been accustomed to in times past, and I distinguished the Begs who had accompanied me by rewards proportioned to their situation and merits. I bestowed more eminent rewards on Sultan Ahmed Tambol than on any of my other nobles. Samarkand had been taken after a severe and fatiguing siege of seven months. On getting possession of it, the soldiers of the army acquired considerable booty. All the rest of the country, Samarkand excepted, had voluntarily joined me or Sultan Ali Mirza, and consequently these districts had not been given up to plunder. From a place which had been entirely ruined and sacked, how was it possible to levy anything by taxation? It had all been completely pillaged by the troops. Samarkand when taken was in such a distressed state, that it was absolutely necessary to furnish the inhabitants with seed-corn and supplies, to enable them to carry on the cultivation till the harvest. How was it possible to levy anything from a country that was in this exhausted condition? Under these circumstances the soldiers were exposed to considerable distress, and I on my part had nothing to give them. They therefore began to think of home, and to desert by ones and twos. The first man who went off was Khan-Kuli Biân-Kuli. Ibrahîm Beg-chik was another. All the Moghuls deserted; and, finally, Sultan Ahmed Tambol himself went off, and left me. In order to put a stop to this defection, I sent Khwâjeh Kazi to Uzun Hassan, who had a great attachment and veneration for the Khwâjeh, to prevail upon him to concur in adopting measures to punish some of the fugitives, and send back others to me. But the prime mover of this sedition, and the grand instigator of these desertions and defections, was, in reality, the perfidious Uzun Hassan himself. After the defection of Sultan Ahmed Tambol, all the fugitives openly and in direct terms professed their hostility. Though I had never received any kind of assistance or succour from Sultan Mahmud Khan, during the several years that I had led my army against Samarkand, yet, no sooner had I succeeded in conquering that country, than he indicated a desire to occupy Andejân. On the present occasion, when the greater part of my troops, and the whole of the Moghuls, had deserted me and gone to Akhsi and Andejân, Uzun Hassan and Tambol expressed a wish that those countries should be placed under Jehangir Mirza. It was inexpedient that they should be given up to him, on many accounts. One of these was, that though I never had promised them to the Khan, yet he had demanded them; and if, after such demand, they were bestowed on Jehangîr Mirza, I must expect to come to an explanation with him. Another reason was, that at this season, when my men had deserted and gone back to their own countries, a request seemed equivalent to a command. Had the request been made before, I might have complied with a good grace; but who could bear a tone of authority? All the Moghuls who had accompanied me, as well as the army of Andejân, and some even of the Begs who were near my person, had gone off to Andejân. Only about a thousand men, including Begs, great and small, remained with me in Samarkand. When they found that their request was not complied with, they collected all the slain. people who had left me from disappointment, and united them to their party. These deserters, who dreaded the reward of their guilt, stood in such terror of me, that they deemed this revolt an interposition of God in their favour. Having marched from Marches against Akhsi against Andejân, they openly raised the standard of rebellion and hostility. Andejân. One Tûlun Khwâjeh, who was the bravest and inost resolute of my skirmishers, had Tulun Khwâjeh been honourably entertained by my father, Omer-sheikh Mirza, and I myself had con- in. tinued to show him distinguished marks of my regard, and raised him to the rank of Beg. He was an extremely gallant soldier, an excellent partizan, and every way worthy of the favour shown him. As Tûlun Khwâjeh was the man of all the Moghuls on whom I had conferred the greatest benefits, and in whom I reposed the most perfect trust, when the Ulûs of Moghuls began to retire, I sent him to confer with them, and to remove from their minds any jealousies or disgusts which they might have conceived, that they might not be led to throw away their lives from any false apprehensions of my resentment; but the traitors had wrought upon them so effectually, that entreaties and promises and threats were tried in vain. The march of Tûlun Khwâjeh was by Miân-Doab, which is also called Rebâtiki-Aderchîni. Uzun Hassan and Sultan Ahmed Tambol dispatched a body of light troops, who fell by surprise on Tûlun Khwâjeh, took him prisoner, carried him off, and put him to death. 2 Uzun Hassan and Tambol now carried Jehangîr Mirza along with them, and laid The rebels besiege siege to Andejân. When I set out with the army, I had left Ali Dost Taghâi in com- Andejân. mand of Andejân, and Uzun Hassan in charge of Akhsi. Khwâjeh Kazi had also returned back to Andejân. Among those who had deserted from Samarkand, were a number of good soldiers. Khwâjeh Kazi, immediately on his arrival, with a view of preserving the fort, and induced by his affection and attachment to me, divided eighteen thousand of his own sheep among the troops who were in the town, and among the wives and families of such as were with me. During the siege, I received letters from my mothers, as well as from Khwâjeh Kazi, mentioning that they were besieged, and so hotly pressed, that, if I did not hasten to their relief, things would come to a very bad termination: That I had taken Samarkand with the forces of Andejân, and, if I still continued master of Andejân, might once more (should God prosper me) regain possession of Samarkand. Letters of this import followed fast upon each other. At this time I had just somewhat recovered from a severe illness. My Baber dangerously ill. circumstances, however, prevented me from nursing myself during my amendment; and my anxiety and exertions brought on such a severe relapse, that for four days I was speechless, and the only nourishment I received was from having my tongue occasionally moistened with cotton. Those who were with me, high and low, Begs, cavaliers, and soldiers, despairing of my life, began each to shift for himself. At this very crisis a servant of Uzun Hassan's came on an embassy with some seditious propositions. The Begs, very mistakenly, brought him where I was, and then 1 Or, perhaps, rather Rebâtik-Urchin, the district of Rebatik (the Small Caravanserai). the east of Andejân. Urchin, in Ferghâna, &c. signifies province or district. 2 That is, "my father's widows," or, perhaps, "my mother and grandmother." It lies to gave him leave to depart. In four or five days I got somewhat better, but still had a little difficulty of speech. A few days afterwards I received letters from my mother, my mother's mother Isandoulet Begum, and from my teacher and spiritual guide Khwâjeh Moulâna Kazi, inviting me with so much solicitude to come to their assístance, that I had not the heart to delay. In the month of Rejeb, on a Saturday, I marched out of Samarkand for Andejân. At this time I had reigned just one hundred the relief of days in Samarkand. Next Saturday I reached Khojend, and that same day intelligence Andejan. arrived that, seven days before, on the very Saturday on which I had left Samarkand, Ali Dost Taghâi had surrendered the fortress of Andejân to the enemy. March, 1498. Marches to Hears of its surrender. ed. The truth was, that the servant of Uzun Hassan, who had been suffered to depart during my illness, arriving while the enemy were busy with the siege, and relating what he had witnessed, that the King had lost his speech, and received no nourishment -except from having his tongue moistened with cotton steeped in a liquid, was made to confirm these circumstances on oath in the presence of Dost Ali Taghâi, who stood at the Khakan Gate. Completely confounded at the news, he commenced a negotiation with the enemy, and having entered into terms of capitulation, surrendered the fort. There was no want of provisions, nor of fighting-men in the place. This wretched fellow's conduct, therefore, was the extreme of treachery and cowardice. He merely employed the circumstances that have been mentioned as a cover to his baseness. 1 Khwȧjeh After the surrender of Andejân, the enemy having received information of my arriKazi hang- val at Khojend, seized Khwâjeh Moulâna Kazi and martyred him, by hanging him in a shameful manner over the gate of the citadel. Khwâjeh Moulâna Kazi's real name was Abdalla, but he was better known by the other appellation. By the father's side he was descended of Sheikh Bûrhân-ed-dîn Kilij, and by the mother's side from Sultan Ilik Mâzi; and his family had for a long time maintained the situation of Muktida (prime religious guides), and of Sheikh-al-Islâm (or chief judge in ecclesiastical law), in the country of Ferghâna. Khwâjeh Kazi was the disciple of Khwâjeh Abîd-ulla, by whom he was educated. I have no doubt that Khwâjeh Kazi was a Wali (or saint). hat better proof of it could be required than the single fact that, in a short time, no trace or memorial remained of any one of all those who were concerned in his murder. They were all completely extirpated. Khwâjeh Kazi was a wonderfully bold man, which is also no mean proof of sanctity. All mankind, however brave they be, have ome little anxiety or trepidation about them. The Khwâjeh had not a particle of either. T Baber redu After the Khwâjeh's death, they seized and plundered all those who were connected with him as his servants and domestics, his tribe and followers. They sent to me, to Khojend, my grandmother, my mother, and the families of several persons who were with me. For the sake of Andejân, I had lost Samarkand, and found that I had lost the one without preserving the other. I now became a prey to melancholy and vexation; for since I had been a sovereign ced to great prince, I never before had been separated in this manner from my country and follow distress. 1 Or Jâgân. It is written both ways. I rather imagine Jagân to be the true reading. ers; and since the day that I had known myself, I had never experienced such grief and suffering. While I was at Khojend, some who envied Khalifeh could not endure to see his influence in my court; and Muhammed Hussain Mirza and some others Is obliged exerted themselves with such effect, that I was obliged to allow him to retire to Tâsh- Khalifeh. kend. to dismiss Mahmud restore Ba I had sent Kâsim Beg to Tâshkend to the Khan, to request him to march against Sultan Andejân. The Khan, who was my maternal uncle, accordingly, having collected an Khan army, advanced by the Dale of Ahengerân,1 and I having set out from Khojend, met marches to him by the time he had encamped below Kundezlik and Amâni. Having reduced ber. Kundezlik and Amâni, he advanced towards Akhsi and encamped. The enemy too, on their part, having brought together what army they had, came to Akhsi. At this time the fortress of Pâp was held by some of my partizans in hopes of my arrival ; but the enemy, gaining courage from a belief of the Khan's retreat, carried it by storm. Though the Khan had many valuable qualities and talents, yet he had no talents as But is prea soldier or general. At the very moment when matters were brought to such a pass, retreat. that, if we had advanced a single march, the country might have been gained without fighting a battle, he listened to the artful proposals of the enemy, and dispatched Khwâjeh Abul Makâram with Tambol's elder brother, Beg Tilbeh, who at that time was the Khan's chamberlain, on an embassy, with proposals for an accommodation. The cabal, in order to extricate themselves, presented such a mixture of truth and falsehood in their representations, and seasoned their eloquence so well with gratifications and bribes to those who acted as negotiators, that the Khan was prevailed upon to break up and retreat the way he came. As the Begs, captains, and warriors, who 3 vailed on to were with me, had many of them their wives and families in Andejân; and as they now saw no hope of our regaining it, great and small, Beg and common man, to the Baberabandoned by number of seven or eight hundred men, separated from me entirely. Among the no- his army. bles who left me, were Ali Dervish Beg, Ali Mazîd Kochin, Muhammed Baber Beg, Sheikh Abdulla the chamberlain, and Miram Lâghari. There adhered to me, cho sing voluntarily a life of exile and difficulty, of all ranks, good and bad, somewha more than two hundred, and less than three hundred men. Of the Begs were Kâsim Beg Kochîn, Weis Lâghari, Ibrâhim Sâru Minkaligh, Shiram Taghâi, and Sîdîm Karabeg. Of my other officers and courtiers there were Mîr Shah Kochîn, Syed Kâsim, the Chamberlain, a Jelâir, Kasim Ajab, Muhammed Dost, Ali Dost Taghâi, Muhammed Ali Mubashar, Khoda-berdi Toghchi (the Standard-bearer), a Moghul, Yarek Taghai, Sultan Kûli, Pîr Weis, Sheikh Weis, Yar Ali, Belâl Kâsim, Master of the Horse, 5 Hyder Rikâbdar (the Equerry). 4 against Sa I was now reduced to a very distressed condition, and wept a great deal. I returned Marches to Khojend, whither they sent me my mother and my grandmother, with the wives markand. and families of several of those who had continued with me. I spent that Ramzân in May, 1498. 1 Julgeh-e-Ahengerân, Blacksmiths' Dale. 2 It has been already observed, that Kundezlik and Amani lay close to the hills, on the road between Tâshkend and Akhsi. 3 Ishik Agha. * Ishik Agha. *H 5 Mir Akhur. |