From the villages of Yār-ailāk we came to Asfendek.*
At
that time Sheibāni Khan was in the vicinity of Khwājeh-Dīdār,
accompanied by three or four thousand Uzbeks,
and about as many more soldiers who had been collected
from various quarters. He had bestowed the Dāroghaship*
of Samarkand on Jān Wafā Mirza, who occupied the place
with five or six hundred men. Hamzeh Sultan and Mahdi
Sultan, with their adherents and followers, were encamped
near Samarkand in the Kurūgh-budīneh.*
My men, good
and bad, amounted only to two hundred and forty. Having
Resolves to
attempt
Samar-
kand.
consulted with the whole of my Begs and officers, we finally
were agreed in opinion, that as Sheibāni Khan had taken
Samarkand so recently, the men of the place had probably
formed no attachment to him, nor he to them; that if
anything was ever to be done, this was the crisis; that
could we succeed in scaling the fort by surprise, and making
ourselves masters of it, the inhabitants of Samarkand would
certainly declare in our favour; they had nothing else for
it; that if they did not assist me, at least they would not
fight for the Uzbeks. At all events, after the city was once
taken, whatever God’s will might be, be it done. Having
come to these conclusions, we mounted and left Yār-ailāk
after noon-tide prayers, and rode rapidly the greater part
Fails in one
attempt.
of the night. By midnight we reached Yuret-Khan. That
night, learning that the garrison were on the alert, we did
not venture to approach the place, but returned from
Yuret-Khan: and as the morning dawned, we passed the
river Kohik a little below Rabāt-i-Khwājeh, and regained
Yār-ailāk.
One day I happened to be in the castle of Asfendek with some of my inferior nobles and officers, such as Dost Nāsir, Nuyān Gokultāsh, Kāsim Gokultāsh, Khan Kuli Kerīmdād, Sheikh Dervīsh, Khosrou Gokultāsh, and Mīram Nāsir, who were sitting and conversing around me. The conversation turned at random on a variety of subjects. I happened to say, ‘Come! let us hit on a lucky guess, and may God accomplish it! When shall we take Samarkand?’ Some said, ‘We shall take it in the spring’* (it was then the harvest); some said in a month, some in forty days, some in twenty days. Nuyān Gokultāsh said, ‘We shall take it within a fortnight’; and Almighty God verified his words, for we did take it within the fortnight.
Bābur’sAbout this time I had a remarkable dream. I thought that the reverend Khwājeh Obeidullah* had come to visit me. I went out to receive him, and the Khwājeh came in and sat down. It appeared to me that a table was spread for him, but perhaps not with sufficient attention to neatness, on which account the holy man seemed to be somewhat displeased. Mulla Bāba observing this, made me a sign. I answered him likewise by signs, that the fault was not mine, but the person’s who had spread the table-cloth. The Khwājeh perceived what passed, and was satisfied with my excuse. When he rose to depart I attended him out. In the hall of the house, however, he seemed to seize me by the right or left arm, and lifted me up so high that one of my feet was raised from the ground, while he said to me in Tūrki, Sheikh Maslehet berdi, ‘Your religious instructor has counselled you.’* A few days after this I took Samarkand.
Makes One or two days after seeing this dream, I went from the
fort of Asfendek to that of Wasmand. Although I had
once already set out to surprise Samarkand, and, after
reaching the very suburbs, had been obliged to return, from
finding the garrison on the alert; nevertheless, placing my
confidence in the Almighty, I once more set out from
Wasmand on the same enterprise, after mid-day prayers,
and pushed on for Samarkand with the greatest expedition.
Khwājeh Abdal Makāram was along with me. At midnight
we reached the bridge of the Maghak at the khiabān (or
public pleasure-ground), whence I detached forward seventy
or eighty of my best men, with instructions to fix their
scaling-ladders on the wall opposite to the Lovers’ Cave, to
mount by them and enter the fort; after which they
were to proceed immediately against the party who were
stationed at the Firōzeh-gate,*
to take possession of it, and
then to apprise me of their success by a messenger. They
and enters
Samarkand
by surprise.
accordingly went, scaled the walls opposite to the Lovers’
Cave, and entered the place without giving the least alarm.
Thence they proceeded to the Firōzeh-gate, where they
found Fāzil Terkhān, who was not of the Terkhān Begs,
but a Terkhān merchant of Tūrkestān, that had served
under Sheibāni Khan in Tūrkestān, and had been promoted
by him. They instantly fell upon Fāzil Terkhān and put
him and a number of his retainers to the sword, broke the
lock of the gate with axes, and threw it open. At that very
moment I came up to the gate and instantly entered. Abul
Kāsim Kohbur did not himself come on this enterprise, but
he sent his younger brother Ahmed Kāsim with thirty or
forty of his followers. There was no person with me on the
part of Ibrahīm Terkhān; but, after I had entered the city,
and while I was sitting in the Khānkāh*
(or monastery),
Ahmed Terkhān, his younger brother, arrived with a party
of his retainers. The citizens in general were fast asleep,
but the shopkeepers, peeping out of their shops, and discovering
what had happened,*
offered up prayers of thanksgiving.
In a short time the rest of the citizens were apprised
of the event, when they manifested great joy, and most
hearty congratulations passed on both sides between them
And expels
the Uzbeks.
and my followers. They pursued the Uzbeks in every street
and corner with sticks and stones, hunting them down and
killing them like mad dogs: they put to death about four
or five hundred Uzbeks in this manner. The Governor of
the city, Jān Wafā, was in Khwājeh Yahya’s house, but
contrived to make his escape, and rejoined Sheibāni Khan.
On entering the gate, I had instantly proceeded towards the college and Khānkāh, and, on reaching the latter, I took my seat under the grand tāk (or arched hall). Till morning the tumult and war-shouts were heard on every side. Some of the chief people and shopkeepers, on learning what had passed, came with much joy to bid me welcome, bringing me such offerings of food ready dressed as they had at hand, and breathed out prayers for my success.
When it was morning, information was brought that the Uzbeks were in possession of the Iron Gate,* and were maintaining themselves in it. I immediately mounted my horse, and galloped to the place, accompanied only by fifteen or twenty men; but the rabble of the town, who were prowling about in every lane and corner,* had driven the Uzbeks from the Iron Gate before I could come up.
Sheibāni Khan, on learning what was passing, set out hurriedly, and about sunrise appeared before the Iron Gate, with a hundred or a hundred and fifty horse. It was a noble opportunity; but I had a mere handful of men with me, as has been mentioned. Sheibāni Khan, soon discovering that he could effect nothing, did not stop, but turned back and retired.
Encamps I now left the town, and encamped at the Bostān-serai.*
The men of rank and consequence, and all such as were in
office in the city, now came out and waited on me, offering
me their congratulations. For nearly a hundred and forty
years, Samarkand had been the capital of my family.
A foreign robber,*
one knew not whence he came, had seized
the kingdom, which dropped from our hands. Almighty
God now restored it to me, and gave me back my plundered
Compares
the surprise
of Samar-
kand with
that of
Heri.
and pillaged country. Sultan Hussain Mirza had also
surprised Heri,*
much in the same way in which I had now
taken Samarkand. But to persons of judgement and
discrimination it is evident, and it is clear to every man of
candour, that there was a very great difference between the
two occurrences. The first distinction is, that Sultan
Hussain Mirza was a mighty and powerful sovereign, of
great experience, and in the maturity of his years and
understanding. The second is, that his opponent, Yādgār
Muhammed Mirza, was an inexperienced lad of seventeen
or eighteen years of age. A third distinction is, that Mīr Ali,
the master of horse, who was perfectly acquainted with the
whole conduct and proceedings of the enemy, was in his
interest, and sent messengers to give him notice of them, and
to bring him in an unguarded hour on his foe. A fourth
difference is, that his opponent was not in a fortress, but
at the Raven Garden, and when Sultan Hussain Mirza took
the place, Yādgār Muhammed Mirza, with his attendants,
had drunk so deeply of wine, that the only three persons
on watch at Yādgār Muhammed Mirza’s door were all drunk,
as well as himself. The fifth distinction is, that he came
and took it at the very first attempt, while the enemy were
in the state of unsuspecting negligence that has been
described.*
On the other hand, when I took Samarkand,
I was only nineteen, and had neither seen much action nor
been improved by great experience. In the next place,
I had opposed to me an enemy like Sheibāni Khan, a man
full of talents, of deep experience, and in the meridian of
life. In the third place, no person came from Samarkand
to give me any information; for though the townspeople
were well inclined to me, yet, from dread of Sheibāni Khan,
none of them dared to think of such a step. In the fourth
place, my enemies were in a fortified place, and I had both
to take the place and to rout the enemy. Fifthly, I had
once before come for the purpose of surprising Samarkand,
and thereby put the enemy on their guard; yet, on a second
attempt, by the favour of God, I succeeded and gained the
city. In these observations, I have no wish to detract from
any man’s merit; the facts were exactly as has been
mentioned. Nor, in what I have said, is it my wish to exalt
the merits of my own enterprise beyond the truth; I have
merely detailed the circumstances precisely as they stood.