AFTER the Khán had been despatched to Andiján, Mirzá Khán arrived with the auxiliary force which had been sent by Sháh Ismail, and thus the power of the Emperor became complete. Then, without delay, his Majesty marched for the country of Hisár; on learning which the Uzbeg, on their part, collected their forces, and under the leadership of Hamza Sultán, Mahdi Sultán, Timur Sultán, and several others of their great Sultáns, set out to oppose the Emperor. Kuchum Khán—who had been set up in the place of Sháhi Beg Khán—Suyunjuk Sultán, Jáni Beg Sultán, Ubaid Ullah Sultán, and all the other [Uzbeg] Sultáns, had assembled and encamped at Karshi, which was originally called Nakhshab. When the Emperor approached the Pul-i-Sangin, Hamza Sultán advanced and occupied it. Both sides remained encamped for nearly one month. Finally it became apparent that the Uzbeg force was numerous, their Sultáns renowned, and that it would be a difficult matter to resist them. The Uzbeg, on their part, came to the conclusion that the Emperor was unable to withstand them, and crossed the river by swimming it below the Pul-i-Sangin. Intelligence of this reached [Bábar] at about afternoon prayer-time, and he immediately broke up his camp and advanced towards Abdara, a locality where there are mountain fastnesses. They continued to march at their best speed all through that night, until the midday prayers of the following day, when they reached a spot which the most experienced leaders considered strongly enough protected to justify a halt. At mid­night news came that the Uzbeg were advancing in full force; the commanders announced this simultaneously to the whole army, and up to daybreak every man was busy egtting his arms ready [for action]. About sunrise …* our pickets came in and reported that the Uzbeg army was approaching, Thereupon the Emperor mounted his horse and rode to the top of some rising ground. He saw that there was only one road by which the enemy could advance; on the left hand of the elevation [on which he stood] there was another hill, and between the two there was a deep ravine, through which, also, only one road led. When the enemy had deployed on the level plain, they saw that it would be no easy task to ascend [the first mentioned] hill. Timur Sultán and some of the other Sultáns, with about 10,000 men, detached themselves from the rest of the army and began to mount the other hill. Against these the Emperor sent Mirzá Khán with a detachment of brave warriors. At this moment his eye fell upon a body of men, and he asked who they were.* When [my father] had left Kábul, there were nearly 3000 of his hereditary retainers, [who had come from Khorásán to Kunduz with the Moghuls]. The chiefs and leaders of these men, the Emperor had taken into his own service, and some of the remainder became attached to myself. It was upon this latter body that the Emperor's eye now fell. They replied: “We are Mirzá Haidar's followers.” The Emperor then [addressing me] said: “You are still too young to take part in such serious affairs as these. Stay by me; [keep by you] Mauláná Muhammad and a few others, and send the rest to the aid of Mirzá Khán.”

When my retainers came up with Mirzá Khán, the Uzbeg made a charge, bearing down [bar dashtand] every one who was in front of Mirzá Khán, till they came close upon the Mirzá himself. At that crisis my retainers arrived on the scene. Their leader was Ataka Fakir, whose name was Ján Ahmad Ataka;* hereafter, wherever his name occurs, he will be called by the latter style. He attacked the Uzbeg with the men under him, and put them to flight. Then those who had fled from before Mirzá Khán rallied, and returning to the fight, drove the enemy back. In the midst of this confusion and scuffle, one of my men took one of the enemy prisoner, and led him before the Emperor, who viewed it as a good omen [fál], and said: “Inscribe the name of Mirzá Haidar upon the first trophy [juldu].” Thus, fighting continued on the left of the army till evening. But on the Emperor's side [of the army] there were no engagements, for the road was very narrow, and his position was not easy of approach from cither side. At the hour of afternoon prayers the brave warriors, having left the Emperor's presence, dismounted and encamped. At nightfall [bigáh] the enemy found it impossible to encamp where they were, on account of the absence of water—for none was to be had except at a distance of one farsákh—so, with the object of being near water when night came on, they retreated. The infantry, who had descended [the hill], ran after them, shouting Hai! Hai! [and making a great noise]. That portion of the enemy's army which was opposite to Mirzá Khán, also became anxious to retire, as soon as they saw that Hamza Sultán, who was in their centre [ghul],* was in retreat. As long as the two armies remained facing each other, neither side prevailed over the other. But when the enemy turned to retire, those of Mirzá Khán's men who had been facing them, [suddenly] made a charge, and the enemy at once fled. When the centre saw this division put to rout, they too let the reins of self-possession fall from the hand of stability, and likewise turned and fled. It was at the hour of evening prayers that Hamza Sultán, Mahdi Sultán, and Mamák Sultán, who had been captured, were led before the Emperor, who did to them that which Shaibáni had done to the Moghul Khákáns and the Chaghatái Sultáns.*

From night to morning and from morning to the next night, did our men pursue the Uzbeg—as far as the frontier [of the State] of Darband-i-Ahanin. The whole of the victorious army now assembled in Hisár, when further help arrived from Sháh Ismail, besides bodies of men from all the surrounding tribes, so that the entire force amounted to 60,000 men. They next marched out of Hisár and proceeded to Karshi. Most of the Uzbeg Sultáns were in Samarkand, while Ubaid Ullah Khán had fortified himself in the castle of Karshi. All [the Emperor's] councillors (and they were those who solved the difficult questions of State) were against laying siege to Karshi. “It would,” they argued, “be far wiser to push on to Bokhárá. For if Ubaid Ullah keeps himself strongly fortified and garrisoned in the castle of Karshi, Bokhárá, which is devoid of troops and full of fools, will fall easily enough into our power. He has nothing to gain by staying in Karshi. [God forbid that, fearing to remain there,] he should abandon the fort and come out.”* The Emperor agreed with these opinions, and passing Karshi, went and encamped [at a distance of one stage beyond it]. Scouts came, in rapid succession, to report that Ubaid Ullah had come out of the fort of Karshi and was on the road to Bokhárá. At that same hour the Emperor mounted his horse, and set out with all speed in pursuit of the Uzbeg. He marched night and day until he reached the city. The pursuers drove the Uzbeg out of Bokhárá into the deserts [chul] of Turkistán, plundering as they went.

When the Uzbeg Sultáns who were assembled in Samarkand heard this news, they were suddenly filled with terror and fled, scattered and dismayed, to different parts of Turkistán.

Now when the Emperor arrived in Bokhárá, he sent back the auxiliaries of Sháh Ismail,* after praising them for their services and bestowing upon them adequate rewards, while he himself, victorious and covered with glory, proceeded to Samarkand. All the inhabitants of the towns of Mávará-un-Nahr, high and low, nobles and poor men, grandees and artizans, princes and peasants —alike testified their joy at the advent of the Emperor. He was received by the nobles, while the other classes were busy with the decoration of the town. The streets and the bazaars were draped with cloth and gold brocades, and drawings and pictures were hung up on every side. The Emperor entered the city in the middle of the month of Rajab in the year 917, in the midst of such pomp and splendour as no one has ever seen or heard of, before or since. The angels cried aloud: “Enter with peace,” and the people exclaimed: “Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe.” The people of Mávará-un-Nahr, especially the inhabitants of Samarkand, had for years been longing for him to come, that the shadow of his protection might be cast upon them. Although, in the hour of necessity, the Emperor had clothed himself in the garments of the Kizilbásh (which was pure heresy, nay almost unbelief), they sincerely hoped, when he mounted the throne of Samarkand, (the throne of the Law of the Prophet) and placed on his head the diadem of the holy Sunna of Muhammad, that he would remove from it the crown of royalty [Sháhi], whose nature was heresy and whose form was as the tail of an ass.

But the hopes of the people of Samarkand were not realised. For, as yet, the Emperor did not feel able to dispense with the aid and support of Sháh Ismail; nor did he consider himself sufficiently strong to cope single-handed with the Uzbeg; hence he appeared to overlook [mudára] the gross errors of the Kizilbásh. On this account, the people of Mávará-un-Nahr ceased to feel that intense longing for the Emperor which they had entertained while he was absent—their regard for him was at an end. It was thus that the Emperor began [already] to flatter the Turkománs, and associate himself with them.*