gum, the grand-daughter1 of Mîr Buzûrg. He went to the mercy of the Almighty in his Sultan Weis father's lifetime, at the age of thirteen. The other son was Sultan Weis Mirza, whose Mirza. His daugh. ters. mother, Sultan Nigâr Khanum, was a daughter of Yunis Khan, and the younger sister of my mother. The transactions of these four Mirzas will be detailed in the succeeding years. Of the daughters, three were by the same mother with Baiesanghar Mirza; the eldest of whom Sultan Mahmûd Mirza gave in marriage to Malek Muhammed Mirza, the son of his paternal uncle Manucheher Mirza. By Khanzâdeh Begum, the granddaughter of Mîr Buzûrg, he had five daughters, the eldest of whom, after the death of Sultan Mahmûd Mirza, was given to Ababeker Kâshghari. The second daughter was Begeh Begum, whom Sultan Hussain Mirza, when he besieged Hissar, engaged to Haider Mirza, his son by Payendeh Sultan Begum, a daughter of Abusaîd Mirza; after which he made peace and raised the siege. The third daughter was Ak-Begum. When Sultan Hussain Mirza advanced against Kundez, Omar-Sheikh Mirza sent his son Jehangîr Mirza with the army of Andejân to succour the place; at which time A.D. 1504. the fourth princess was betrothed to Jehangir Mirza. In the year 910, when Bâki Cheghâniâni came and met me on the banks of the Amu, these Begums were with their mothers in Termez, and they all of them came along with the wife of Bâki Cheghâniâni and accompanied me; and, on our reaching Kohmerd, Jehangîr Mirza married his bride. They had one daughter, who is at present with her grandmother Khanzadeh Begum in Badakhshân. The fifth daughter was Zeineb Sultan Begum, whom, when I took Kâbul, I married, at the instance of my mother, Kutluk Nigâr Khanum. We did not agree very well; two or three years after our marriage she was seized with the small-pox, which carried her off. Another of Sultan Mahmûd Mirza's daughters was Makhdûm Sultan Begum, who was the elder sister of Sultan Ali Mirza, by the same mother. She is now in Badakhshân. His other two daughters were by concubines; the name of the one was Rajeb Sultan, that of the other Moheb Sultan. His Wives. Begum. Another Pasheh The chief of his wives was Khanzâdeh Begum,' the daughter of Mîr Buzûrg of Termez, to whom the Mirza was strongly attached, and who was the mother of Sultan Masaûd Mirza. The Mirza was deeply afflicted at her death. After that event he Khanzadeh married the grand-daughter of Mîr Buzûrg, the daughter of a brother of Khanzâdeh Begum. Begum. She also was called Khanzadeh Begum, and she was the mother of five daughters and one son. Another of his wives was Pasheh Begum, the daughter of Ali Shîr Beg Beharlu, one of the Begs of the Turkoman Horde of the Black Sheep. She had been married before to Muhammedi Mirza, the son of Jehân-shâh Mirza Barâni, a Turkoman of the Black Sheep. At the period when Uzun Hassan, who was a Turkoman of the White Sheep, took Azerbâejân and Irâk from the family of Jehânshah Mirza, the sons of Ali Shîr Beg, with four or five thousand families of the Turkomans of the Black Sheep, entered the service of Sultan Abusaîd Mirza. After the defeat of the Sultan, they found their way to the countries north of the Amu: and 1 It is to be remembered that Sultan Mahmûd Mirza had two wives of the name of Khanzadeh Begum, the one the daughter, the other the grand-daughter of Mîr Buzûrg. when Sultan Mahmûd Mirza went from Samarkand to Hissâr, they entered his service. It was at that time that the Mirza married this Pasheh Begum, who was the mother of one of his sons and three of his daughters. Another of his wives was Sultan Sultan NiNigâr Khanum, whose extraction has already been mentioned in the account of the går Kha Khans. num. bines. He had many concubines and handmaids, the principal of whom was Zohreh Begi His concu. Agha, an Uzbek, whom he had taken in the lifetime of Sultan Abusaîd Mirza. She was the mother of one son and one daughter. By two of his numerous handmaids, he had the two daughters who have already been mentioned. 2 Shah. The first of his Begs was Khosrou Shah,' who was from Turkestân, of a tribe of His Begs. Kipchâk. In his youth he had been in the service of the Terkhân Begs, nay, had been Khosrou a catamite. He next was in the service of Mazîd Beg Arghûn, who treated him with great favour. He accompanied Sultan Mahmûd Mirza in the disastrous expedition into Irâk; and, during the course of the retreat, did him such acceptable service, that the Mirza gave him high marks of his regard. He afterwards rose to an exceeding height of power. In the time of Sultan Mahmûd Mirza, his dependants amounted to the number of five or six thousand. From the banks of the Amu to the mountain Hindûkûsh, the whole country, except Badakhshân, depended on him, and he enjoyed the whole revenues of it. He was remarkable for making a very extensive distribution of victuals, and for his liberality. Though a Tûrk, he applied his attention to the mode of raising his revenues, and he spent them liberally as they were collected. After the death of Sultan Mahmûd Mirza, in the reign of that prince's sons, he reached the highest pitch of greatness, and indeed became independent, and his retainers rose to the number of twenty thousand. Though he prayed regularly, and abstained from forbidden foods, yet he was black-hearted and vicious, of mean understanding, and slender talents, faithless, and a traitor. For the sake of the short and fleeting pomp of this vain world, he put out the eyes of one, and murdered another of the sons of the benefactor, in whose service he had been, and by whom he had been patronised and protected; rendering himself accursed of God, abhorred of men, and worthy of execration and shame till the day of final retribution. These crimes he perpetrated merely to secure the enjoyment of some poor worldly vanities; yet with all the power of his many and populous territories, in spite of his magazines of warlike stores, and the multitude of his servants, he had not the spirit to face a barn-door chicken. He will be often mentioned again in these memoirs. hammed Il Another was Pîr Muhammed Ilchi Bûgha, a Kochin. In the war of Hazârasp, near Pir Muthe gates of Balkh, he did great execution with his fists by way of bravado, in the pre- chi Bûgha. sence of Sultan Abusaîd Mirza. He was a brave man, and always remained in the employment of the Mirza, who was much influenced by his opinions. When Sultan Hussain Mirza besieged Kundez, Pîr Muhammed, from rivalry to Khosrou Shah, made 1 This Khosrou Shah acts a considerable part in the course of these Memoirs. 2 These distributions of victuals were made, as has been remarked, for the purpose of acquiring and retaining followers. Ayub. Wali. Sheikh Abdulla Birlâs. Mahmûd Khosrou led from a night attack on the enemy with a handful of unarmed men, contrary to all rule, but accomplished nothing; and indeed what could be expected from an attempt made on a mighty army with such inferior force? Being hotly pursued by some light-armed horse, he threw himself into the river, and was drowned. Another was Ayûb, who had served Sultan Abusaîd Mirza in the band of Khorasân Youths. He was a man of courage, and was Beg Utke (or governor) to Baiesanghar Mirza. He was moderate in his table and dress, and of an humorous, lively turn. Sultan Mahmûd Mirza having called him Bîhyâ (or shameless), the epithet stuck to him. Wali was another of them, the younger brother of the full blood of Khosrou Shah. He took good care of his servants. It was, however, at the instigation of this man, that Sultan Masaûd Mirza was blinded, and Baiesanghar Mirza put to death. He was in the habit of speaking ill of everybody behind their backs. He was a foul-tongued, scurrilous, self-conceited, scatter-brained fellow. He never approved of any thing or any person, but himself or his own. When I separated Khosrou Shah from his servants in the country of Kundez, in the vicinity of Kîlkâi and Doshi, and dismissed him, Wali, from dread of the Uzbeks, went to Anderâb and Sirâb. The Aimaks of these quarters defeated and plundered him, and he afterwards came to Kâbul with my permission. Wali subsequently went to Muhammed Sheibâni Khan, who ordered his head to be struck off in Samarkand. 1 Another of his chiefs was Sheikh-Abdulla Birlâs. He married Shah Sultan Muhammed's daughter, who, by the mother's side, was aunt to Sultan Mahmûd Khan and Ababeker Mirza. He wore his frock very strait and tightened by a belt. He was an upright, unaffected man. Another was Mahmûd Birlâs, who was of the Birlâses of Nundâk. He had attained the rank of Beg in Sultan Abusaîd Mirza's time. When that prince subdued the territories of Irâk, he gave Kermân to this Mahmûd Birlâs; and at a later period, when Ababeker Mirza, accompanied by Mazid Beg Arghûn, and the Begs of the Turkomans of the Black Sheep, came against Sultan Mahmûd Mirza at Hissâr, and the Mirza fled to Samarkand to his elder brother, Mahmûd Birlâs refused to surrender Hissâr, and manfully held it out. He was a poet, and composed a Diwân. After Sultan Mahmûd Mirza's death, Khosrou Shah wished to conceal the event, Shah expel- and seized upon the treasure. How was it possible that such an event could remain Samarkand. concealed? It was instantly noised about among all the towns-people and inhabitants of Samarkand. That day happened to be a great festival; the soldiery and citizens, rising tumultuously, fell upon Khosrou Shah. Ahmed Hâji Beg and the Terkhân Begs, having allayed, the tumult, sent off Khosrou Shah towards Hissâr. Sultan Mahmûd Mirza, in his lifetime, had given Hissâr to his eldest son Sultan Masaûd Mirza, and Bokhara to Baiesanghar Mirza, and sent them away to their governments, so that, at this time, neither of them was at hand. After the expulsion of Khosrou Shah, the 1 Shah Sultan Muhammed, King of Badakhshân, has already been mentioned as the father of Shah Begum, who was one of the wives of Yunis Khan, and mother of the Great and Little Khans, and their two sisters. Baiesanlirza is ghar raised to the throne. Sultan Khan in Begs of Samarkand and Hissâr having met and consulted together, sent an express to Baiesanghar Mirza, who was in Bokhâra, and, bringing him to Samarkand, placed him on the throne. When Baiesanghar became king he was only eighteen years of age. At this crisis, Sultan Mahmûd Khan, at the instigation and by the advice of Sultan Jûneid Birlâs and some of the chief men of Samarkand, advanced with an army against Mahmûd that capital, as far as Kanbâi, which lies in the territory of Samarkand. Baiesanghar vades SaMirza, with the utmost activity and vigour, led out a strong and well-appointed body markand, of troops, and engaged him not far from Kanbâi. Haider Gokultâsh, who was the great pillar of the Moghul army, and commanded the advanced guard, had dismounted with all his men, who were actively employed in shooting their arrows. The instant that the resolute mailed warriors of Samarkand and Hissâr charged keenly on horseback, the whole of Haider Gokultâsh's division, which had dismounted, was ridden down and trampled under the horses' feet. After the discomfiture of this body, the rest of the army no longer made a stand, but were totally defeated. A vast num- but is deber of Moghuls perished; so many of them were beheaded in the presence of Baiesan- feated. ghar Mirza, that they were forced three several times to shift his pavilion, in consequence of the heaps of slain that lay before it.2 ru revolts in Asfera. At this same time Ibrâhim Sâru, who was of the tribe of Minkaligh, who had been Ibrahim Sâbrought up from his infancy in my mother's service, and had attained the dignity of Beg, but who had afterwards been dismissed on account of some misdemeanour, now entered the fort of Asfera, read the Khutbeh (or public prayer for the Prince) in the name of Baiesangbar Mirza, and commenced open hostilities against me. In the month of Shâbân I made the army mount, and marched to quell the revolt of Ibrâhim Sâru; May 1495. and in the end of the month I came to my ground and invested the place. The very day of our arrival, the young warriors, in the wantonness of enterprise, immediately Is besieged on reaching the foot of the walls, mounted a rampart that had been recently built, and by Baber; entered and took an outwork that had just been finished. Syed Kâsim, the chamberlain,3 this day acted the most distinguished part, pushed on before the other assailants, and laid about him with his scymitar. Sultan Ahmed Tambol, and Muhammed Dost Taghâi, also wielded their scymitars gallantly; but Syed Kâsim gained the Ulûsh (or prize of valour). The Ulûsh (or prize of valour) is an ancient usage that is retained among the Moghuls. In every entertainment and feast, he who has most distinguished himself by the gallant use of his sword, takes the Ulûsh, or prize of valour. When I went to Shahrokhîa to visit my maternal uncle, Sultan Mahmûd Khan, Syed Kâsim claimed and received the Ulûsh. In this first day's action, Khoda-berdi, my governor, was struck with an arrow from a cross-bow and died. As the troops had rushed into the enterprise without armour, several of them were slain, and a great many wounded. 1 Leyden has, in throwing up entrenchments, which would be convenient for the sense, if the words would admit of it. The shibeh is a kind of forked arrow, often mentioned in the Memoirs. 2 The prisoners were brought out one after another, and had their heads struck off before the royal tent. 3 Ishek Agha. ↑ Ulush is an Arabic word, signifying the food left after a feast. The honour seems nearly to correspond with the Aristeia of the Greeks. 5 Atkeh. • Tîr-takhsh also means a rocket. See the Burkân-c-kataa. Ibrâhim Sâru had with him a cross-bow man, who shot astonishingly well, I never met with his equal, he wounded a great many of my people. After the surrender of the castle, he entered into my service. As the siege drew out to some length, orders were given to construct, in two or three places, the works called Sir-kob,1 to run mines, and to use every exertion to get ready whatever machines or works were wanted for pushing on the siege. The siege lasted forty days; but, at last, Ibrâhim Sâru, being reduced to the last extremity, and taken. made his offers of unlimited submission through the medium of Khwâjeh Moulâna Kazi; and, in the month of Shawal, having come out and presented himself before me with a scymitar suspended from his neck, delivered up the fort. June, Baber recovers Kho jend; and visits Sultan Mahmûd Khan. Khojend had, for a long period, belonged to Omar-Sheikh Mirza, but, during the wars at the close of his reign, it had been occupied by Sultan Ahmed Mirza. As I had advanced so near it, I determined, situated as matters were, to proceed against it. Abdal Wahâb Shaghâwal, the father of Mîr Moghul, commanded in the place; and, immediately on my approach, without making any difficulty, surrendered the fortress. At this period, Sultan Mahmûd Khan happened to be in Shahrokhîa. Some time before, when Sultan Ahmed Mirza advanced into the territory of Andejân, the Khan, on his side, laid siege to Akhsi, as has been mentioned. It occurred to me, that, as we were now so near, and as he stood in the relation of a father and elder brother to me, I ought to go and pay him my respects, and dispel from his mind any misunderstanding that might exist in consequence of past events; a line of conduct which I perceived would be attended with this farther advantage, that it would enable me to, form a nearer and better idea of the real state of things at his court. 3 4 Having formed this resolution, I went on, and waited on the Khan in the neighbourhood of Shahrokhîa, in a garden which had been laid out by Haider Beg. The Khan was seated in a pavilion erected in the middle of the garden. Immediately on entering it, I made three low bows. The Khan returned my salutation by rising from his seat and embracing me; after which I went back and again bowed once; when the Khan, inviting me forward, placed me by his side, showing me every mark of affection and kindness. In the course of one or two days afterwards, I set out by way of Kundezlik and Amâni, and proceeded towards Akhsi and Andejân. When I arrived Returns by at Akhsi, I went and visited the tomb of my father. Leaving Akhsi, on a Friday, about noon-day prayers, I proceeded towards Andejân, by the route of Bend-Sâlâr, and arrived between evening and bed-time prayers. The road by Bend-Sâlâr is nine farsangs. way of Akhsi. 1 Sir-kob is a framework constructed of carpentry, or a mound of earth, equal in height to the wall, or overtopping it. 2 This usage is to show that the person so coming surrenders at discretion, and considers himself as ready for execution. 3 As the remains of the patriarchal system were still strong among the Moghuls and Tûrks, great respect was paid to the father or chief person of the family; and the forms of this respect subsisted, both in language and ceremony, long after the reality had ceased. ✦ Shahrokhîa, formerly Benâket, stands on the Sirr, between Khojend and Tâshkend. 5 The road by Kundezlik and Amâni seems to have been that generally pursued in going from either Tâshkend or Shahrokhîa to Akhsi. |
