At this time an awkward incident occurred to Kāsim Ajab, whom I had left in the temporary command of Akhsi. Having gone out with a few men in pursuit of a marauding party, he had followed them rather rashly, and crossed the river of Khojend at Bikhrātā in the pursuit, when he fell in with a large body of Tambol’s men, and was taken prisoner.
Tambol When Tambol learned the disbanding of my army, and
had conferred with his elder brother Beg Tīlbeh, who had
reached him with advices from the Khan,*
and given him
certain assurances of the coming of reinforcements, he
marched from Uzkend to the district termed Suārasī
between the two rivers. At the same time I received certain
intelligence from Kāsān, that the Khan had sent off*
his
Sulten Mu-
hammed
Khanekeh
besieges
Kāsān.
son Sultan Muhammed Khanekeh, who was generally called
Sultānim, accompanied by Ahmed Beg, and five or six
thousand men, who had passed by the route of Archehkend,
and come and laid siege to Kāsān. Without constraining
Bābur com-
pels him to
raise the
siege.
myself by waiting for such of my troops as were at a distance,
taking with me only such of my men as were ready at hand,
without delay, in the depth of winter, placing my reliance
in Almighty God, I marched from Andejān by way of
Bendsālār to attack Sultānim and Ahmed Beg. That night
we halted nowhere, and next morning we arrived at Akhsi.
The cold during the night was extremely intense,*
insomuch
that several of my people were frost-bitten in the hands and
feet, and the ears of some of them were contracted and
withered*
like an apple. We did not tarry at Akhsi, but
having placed Yārek Taghāi in charge of that place in the
room of Kāsim Ajab, I passed on for Kāsān. When I arrived
within one kos of Kāsān, I received intelligence that Ahmed
Beg and Sultānim, on being informed of my approach, had
broken up in confusion, and retreated in great haste.
The moment that Tambol knew of my march, he had set
out with all speed to the assistance of his elder brother, and
now came up. It was about the time between afternoon
and evening prayers, when the blackness occasioned by the
approach of Tambol’s army became visible in the direction
of Noukend.*
Confounded and disconcerted at the sudden
but escapes
to Arkhiān.
and unnecessary retreat of his elder brother, as well as by my
expeditious arrival, he instantly drew up. I said, ‘It is
God himself that has conducted them hither, and brought
them so far to fatigue their horses! Let us come on, and by
the favour of God, not one of those who have fallen into our
hands shall escape out of them.’ Weis Lāghari and some
others, however, represented that the day was now far
spent; that if we let them alone that day it was out of their
power to escape during the night, and that we could afterwards
confront them wherever they were found.*
This
advice was followed, and they were not attacked. And
thus when, by a piece of rare good fortune, the enemy had
come, as if to put themselves in our power, we suffered
them to get away without the slightest injury. There is
a saying,
(Tūrki)— He that does not seize what comes into his grasp,
Must indulge his regret even to old age, and repine.Persian)— Occasion must be leaped on when it offers;
The doings of the indolent, out of season, are utterly worthless.
Regarding the interval granted them till morning as most
precious, they rested nowhere all night, but rode on till they
gained the fortress of Arkhiān. When morning came
we went against the enemy, but they were not to be found.
Bābur pur-
sues him.
We pursued them, and as we did not judge it advisable to
lay close siege to Arkhiān, encamped a kos from it in
a village of Nemengān.*
We continued thirty or forty days
in this station, while Tambol remained in the fortress of
Arkhiān. Small parties sometimes advanced from my
army, and were met by parties from the fort, when skirmishes
ensued in the ground between us. One night they
made a sally to surprise us, but stopped on the outside of
the camp, and retired, after discharging a few arrows. We
drew a trench around the camp, and fenced it with branches
of trees, so that they could do us no injury.
While we remained in this encampment, Kamber Ali, who had taken umbrage, was two or three times on the point of returning to his own government; he once actually mounted, and had set out, but several Begs being sent after him, with a great deal of difficulty prevailed on him to come back.
Defection About the same time Syed Yūsef Machemi sent a person
to Sultan Ahmed Tambol to inform him of his wish to enter
his service, and finally joined him. Among the districts
along the bottom of the hills of Andejān, there are two
called Oīghūr and Machem. Syed Yūsef was the kalān*
or Head-man of Machem. He had lately become known to
me, by sight, among my courtiers, had taken it into his
head to shake off the kalāntar, and affected the airs of
a Beg, though nobody had ever made him a Beg. He was
a wonderfully sly, treacherous, unsettled sort of a creature.
From the period when I took Andejān*
until the present
occasion, he had two or three times joined me against
Tambol, and two or three times gone over and joined
Tambol against me. This, however, was the last time that
he ever rebelled. He had with him a number of Īls, Ulūses,
and Aimāks.*
‘They must be prevented from uniting with
Tambol,’ we exclaimed, ‘and we must catch him on the road.’
Bābur
marches to
Bishkhā-
rān.
So saying, we took to horse. On the third day we reached
the vicinity of Bishkhārān, but Tambol had arrived and
entered the fort. Of the Begs who accompanied me on this
expedition, Ali Derwīsh Beg, Kūch Beg, and their brothers,
advanced close up to the gates of Bishkhārān and had some
gallant skirmishes with the enemy. Kūch Beg and his
brothers particularly distinguished themselves. Some of
them fought with great intrepidity and success.
I halted on an eminence at the distance of one kos from
Bishkhārān. Tambol, bringing Jehāngīr along with him,
came and encamped, resting on the fort of Bishkhārān. In
the course of three or four days, several Begs, who were by
no means friendly to my interests, such as Ali Dost and
Kamber Ali the skinner, with their dependants and adherents
began to talk of peace and an accommodation. Those who
were really attached to me were kept entirely in the dark as
to the intended treaty, and we were altogether averse to it.
But, as the two personages who have been named were the
Begs of chief authority, it was to be apprehended that, if
we did not listen to their wishes, and refused to make peace,
more serious consequences might follow. It was necessary
A peace
concluded.
therefore to comply, and a peace was concluded on the
following terms: That the country lying on the Akhsi side
The terms.
of the river of Khojend should belong to Jehāngīr Mirza;
that on the Andejān side to me: that Uzkend,*
too, should
be given up to me, when they had withdrawn their wives
and families from it: that after we had settled our territories,
I and Jehāngīr Mirza should unite and proceed in
concert against Samarkand; and that, as soon as I had
conquered and gained complete possession of Samarkand,
I should resign Andejān to Jehāngīr Mirza. The day after
these conditions were agreed on, it being towards the end
of Rajeb,*
Jehāngīr Mirza and Tambol came and paid me
their respects. We ratified everything that had been
arranged; Jehāngīr Mirza having taken leave, proceeded
to Akhsi, while I returned to Andejān. On my arrival
there, I ordered Khalīl, the younger brother of Tambol, and
a number of other prisoners, to be brought out, and having
given them dresses of honour, dismissed them. The enemy
on their part released such of my Begs and officers as had
been taken prisoners, as Taghāi Beg, Muhammed Dost,
Mīr Shah Kuchīn, Sayyidī Beg, Kāsim Ajab, Pīr Weis, and
Mīram Dīwān, and sent them to me.