WHEN the Kháns fell into the hands of Sháhi Beg Khán at Aksu, my father was at Urátippa. When Sháhi Beg Khán passed between [the two armies] it was not possible for my father to form a junction with the Kháns, and he found it necessary to go to Karátigin. At that time Khusrau Sháh, one of the Amirs of Mirzá Sultán Mahmud, son of Sultán Abu Said, was in possession of Hisár, Kunduz and Badakhshán. After the death of Mirzá Sultán Mahmud, he had blinded his son Sultán Masud Mirzá, and when Báisanghar Mirzá, son of Sultán Mahmud Mirzá, fled from Samarkand, Khusrau Sháh sent messengers to him to express his repentance, saying: “What I did, was from fear for my life, for Sultán Masud Mirzá had the intention of killing me; but now, in compensation for that act, I will serve you so faithfully that, however much my infamous act may have brought down upon me the execrations and curses of mankind, my conduct for the future will procure for me their favour and applause.” In this manner did he make abundant promises and protest so much, that he deceived Báisanghar Mirzá also, and sent that worthy prince into the next world, as if he were an arrow from a bow.

Thus he brought the whole of the dominion of Sultán Mahmud Mirzá under his own power. But these successes filled his mind with pride and vainglory. When he was thus at the height of his power, my father arrived in Karátigin, and Khusrau Sháh desired an interview with him. My father accordingly went to Hisár; and Khusrau Sháh, having received him in the Bágh-i-chinár, with the utmost distinction and friendliness, said to him: “I look upon your gracious visit as a blessing from God; for it is the season of Sháhi Beg Khán's supremacy. My fear is that though this year his mind is set upon the conquest of other territories, he may next year turn towards this quarter. I have never been to war with the Uzbeg, and do not know their mode of warfare. For every tribe has its own special methods, whether in war or in negotiation. The arrangement of these matters differs with each people according to time and place, and until their methods are known, it is difficult to contend with them. Now, as you have many times had to do with the Uzbeg, both in peace and in war, and have experienced, when at war with them, both victory and defeat, make known to me all that you have learned, that I may be guided by what you tell me. As my reliance is on you, and my hope, I beg you to accept, in confirmation of my confidence, Sultánim Begum, daughter of Sultán Ahmad Mirzá, and one of the princesses, [of my family] that she may be a bond of union between us.”

Such idle words and many more did he utter, and set on foot grand preparations for the marriage.

The destruction [viráni] of Táshkand and Urátippa was in the season of Cancer,* and this affair took place in the end of the season of the Balance.*

Meanwhile, news arrived of the invasion of Sháhi Beg Khán, and all the adherents of Khusrau Sháh fled in different directions. Those who possessed castles, fortified themselves in them, and those who had none, fled to the hills and the remote valleys and glens. No one troubled himself about his neighbour. As all Khusrau Sháh's people were scattered in confusion, my father also took refuge in Karátigin, which is a country of mountain fastnesses. Among these mountains they encountered a very severe winter. It began to snow as soon as they arrived, and for one whole month the weather did not clear, so that the snow reached to a depth of twelve spans, and for those who had settled in the valleys, or lived in houses, there was no possibility of changing their abode.

Now Sháhi Beg's purpose in coming [to Hisár] was not to seize Khusrau Sháh, but just to try whether Khusrau Sháh had power to withstand him or not. In that inroad he did not commit much violence. Whatever plunder did fall into his hands, he seized upon. He then returned, with the conviction that when he came a second time he would frighten away [Khusrau Sháh] as a fly from a dish, with a mere wave of his hand. That winter he also wished to test the people of Khorásán. Using the same means, he marched on Balkh, where the governor at that time was Sultán Kulunják, acting under Badi-uz-Zamán Mirzá, son of Sultán Husain Mirzá. He commanded his men to invest the town, and spent the whole of that winter in besieging it. The Khorásáni were, in spite of their numerous attacks on the enemy, unable to relieve Balkh. Thus, during that winter, he weighed Khusrau Sháh and the Khorásáni in the scales of experiment, and found that neither of them equalled himself in weight.

But while Sháhi Beg Khán was engaged in besieging Balkh, Khusrau Sháh was left free from molestation, and his men again assembled. In short, his affairs began to prosper, and he sent messengers without intermission to Sháhi Beg Khán, with suitable expressions of friendship, which Sháhi Beg Khán returned in kind. That winter, when Khusrau Sháh was recovering his peace of mind, news arrived from Karátigin that there had been a great fall of snow, so that no one was able to get away. Khusrau Sháh immediately despatched 20,000 men, under his brother Mir Vali.*

Those in Karátigin were under no apprehensions from anything on his side, but remained where they were, far and near. When they learned the approach of the army, they immediately mustered all the men they could, to the number of about 500, and occupied the pass. The snow was so deep that no one dared leave the road. Both sides dismounted and the fight commenced. It lasted from morning till night. Finally our people had no arrows left, for on both sides every arrow that was shot was lost in the snow. The enemy were very numerous, and advanced to the fight in detach­ments; while as soon as the arrows of one detachment were expended, another came up to take its place and continued the fight. But we had on our side only one body, and towards evening, our arrows being entirely expended, our people turned and fled. Among the Amirs of my father, who died of arrow-wounds in that fight, were Bágh Yasár Oghlán, Khush Rái Kukildásh, and several more. My father escaped, with six others, towards the hills of the country of Farghána, which lie on the eastern side of that country, between Káshghar and Andiján. In those mountains are people whom they call Jagirák, and who, at that time, were great cattle-stealers. Not long after this, however, they were exterminated by Mirzá Abá Bakr.* But Khusrau Sháh had carried away all our servants and retinue to Kunduz, where they spent one year as best they could.

Having reached this point in my narrative, if I omitted to give a short account of Sháhi Beg Khán, the chain of my history would not be continuous.