I NOW dispatched commissaries and officers to collect
the whole force of my territories, horse and foot, with all
possible speed; and, by means of special messengers,
I summoned Kamber Ali, and such of the troops as had gone
to their own homes, to return without loss of time. I also
dispatched commissaries and officers to procure tūras,*
scaling-ladders, shovels, axes, and all kinds of necessaries
and stores for the use of the army. I appointed a place
where the men, both horse and foot, who came from the
different districts to the army, were to assemble.*
My
servants and soldiers, who had gone off in different directions,
on business or service, were recalled; and, putting
Aug. 25,
1499.
my confidence in God, on the 18th of Muharrem, I marched
out and encamped at the Chār-bāgh of Hāfiz Beg. After
halting a day or two at the Chār-bāgh in order to get ready
such of the arms and stores as had remained incomplete,
I marched towards Ush to meet the enemy, having my
army divided into right and left wings, centre and advance,
with cavalry and infantry all drawn out in regular array.
When we arrived near Ush, I was informed that the army,
finding that they could not maintain themselves in Ush,
had retired towards Rabāt-e-Sarhang Urchīni, which lies
north of that city. That evening I halted at Lātkend, and,
the next morning, as I was passing Ush, learned that the
Tambol
attempts to
surprise
Andejān.
enemy had directed their march on Andejān. We on our
part approached Uzkend, and detached forward plundering
parties to ravage the country and suburbs. The enemy,
arriving at Andejān during the night, instantly entered the
ditch; but while they were planting their scaling-ladders
against the ramparts, were discovered by the people within,
so that the enterprise failed and they were compelled to
retreat. My plundering parties advanced and committed
devastations in the suburbs of Uzkend, but came back
without acquiring any considerable booty.
In one of the forts of Ush, named Mādu, which is distinguished
for its superior strength, Tambol had left his
younger brother Khalīl with a garrison of two hundred, or
two hundred and fifty men. Against this fortress I now
marched, and attacked it with great vigour.*
The castle of
Mādu is excessively strong. On the north side, where there
is a river, it is very steep and precipitous. If an arrow be
discharged from the river, it may perhaps reach the castle
wall. Its supply of water is from a conduit on this side.
From the bottom of the castle a sort of covered way, having
ramparts on each side, reaches down to the river. All round
the hillock there is a moat. As the river is near at hand,
they had brought from its bed stones about the size of
those used for battering cannon, and carried them up into
the fort. Such a number of huge stones*
as were launched
from the fort of Mādu, in all the storms that I have witnessed,
I never saw thrown from any other castle. Abdal
Kadūs Kohbur, the elder brother of Kitteh Beg, having
climbed up to the foot of the castle-wall, was hit by a large
stone discharged from above, which sent him spinning down,
heels over head, from that prodigious height, right forward,
without touching anywhere till he lighted, tumbling and
rolling, at the bottom of the glacis.*
Yet he received no
injury, and immediately mounted his horse and returned
back to the camp. At the conduit which had the double
wall, Yār Ali Belāl was severely wounded in the head with
a stone. The wound was afterwards cut open and dressed.
Many of our people suffered*
from these stones. The
morning after the attack, before breakfast time,*
we had
gained possession of the water-course. The action continued
till evening, but after losing their water, they could no
longer hold out; and next morning they asked for quarter
and takes
it.
and surrendered the place. Khalīl, the younger brother of
Tambol, who was in command, with seventy, eighty, or
a hundred of the most active young men, were kept as
prisoners, and sent to Andejān to be put in close custody.
This was a fortunate occurrence for such of my Begs,
officers, and soldiers, as had fallen into the hands of the
enemy.
After taking Mādu, I proceeded to Unjūtūbah, one of the villages of Ush. On the other hand, Tambol, after retreating from Andejān, encamped at a place called Āb-khan, one of the dependencies of Rabāt-e-Sarhang Urchīni,* so that there was only the distance of about one farsang between the two armies. At this time Kamber Ali, from ill health, was obliged to retire to Ush. For a month or forty days we remained in this posture. There was no general action during that time, but every day there were skirmishes between my foragers and theirs. During this period I paid great attention to support a strict look-out by night, and dug a trench all round the camp; where there was no ditch we placed branches of trees.* I made all our soldiers march out and present themselves, accoutred and ready for action, by the side of the ditch; but, notwithstanding all this care, every three or four nights there was an alarm in the camp, and a call to arms. One day Sayyidī Beg Taghāi having gone out to meet and cover the return of the foragers, the enemy came upon him in much superior force, and in the midst of the action that ensued, suddenly made him prisoner.
Khosrou This year Khosrou Shah, having invited Baiesanghar
Mirza to join him, under pretence of proceeding to attack
Balkh, carried him to Kunduz, from which place they set
out on their march against Balkh. When they had reached
Ubāj, Khosrou Shah, the miserable and infidel-like wretch,
betrayed by the ambition of usurping the sovereign power—
(how is it possible for sovereignty to appertain to such
a worthless and contemptible creature, who had neither
birth, nor family, nor talents, nor reputation, nor wisdom,
nor courage, nor justice, nor right?) yet this reptile seized
upon Baiesanghar Mirza and his Begs, strangled him with
August 17,
1499.
a bow-string, and thus, on the tenth day of Muharrem,
murdered this most accomplished and sweet-tempered
prince, who was adorned with whatever endowments rank
and birth could bestow. He also put to death a number
of his Begs and confidential servants.
Baiesanghar Mirza was born in Hissār in the year 882, and was the second son of Sultan Mahmūd Mirza, being younger than Sultan Masaūd Mirza, and older than Sultan Ali Mirza, Sultan Hussain Mirza, and Sultan Weis Mirza, better known by the name of Khan Mirza. His mother was Pasheh Begum.
His personHe had large eyes, a round face, and was about the middle size; he had a Turkomān visage, and was an extremely elegant young man.
His disposi-He was a lover of justice, humane, of a pleasant disposition, and a perfectly accomplished prince. His tutor was Syed Muhammed, a Shīah, whence Baiesanghar himself was tainted with the notions of that sect. It is said, however, that latterly, while at Samarkand, he retracted the errors of that system, and became purely orthodox. He was excessively addicted to wine; but, during the times that he did not drink, was regular in the performance of his prayers. He was sufficiently generous and liberal. He wrote a fine Nastālīk hand, and had considerable skill in painting. He was also a poet, and assumed the poetical name of Aādili. The poems were not so numerous as to be formed into a diwān. The following verses are his:—* (Persian)
Like an unsubstantial shadow I fall here and there,
And if not supported by the face of a wall, drop flat on the ground.
In Samarkand the Odes (ghazels) of Baiesanghar Mirza are so popular, that there is not a house in which a copy of them may not be found.
His wars.He fought two battles, one of them with Sultan Mahmūd Khan, when he first mounted the throne of Samarkand.* Sultan Mahmūd Khan, at the instigation of Sultan Juneid Birlās and some others, had advanced with an army for the purpose of conquering Samarkand, and marched by way of Ak-kūtal* as far as Rabāt-e-Soghd and Kānbāi. Baiesanghar Mirza marched from Samarkand to meet him, engaged him at Kānbāi, gave him a severe defeat, and ordered the heads of three or four thousand Moghuls to be struck off. Haider Gokultāsh, who was the Khan’s prime adviser, fell in this battle. His second battle was with Sultan Ali Mirza at Bokhāra, in which he was defeated.*
His