IT is written at the beginning of this Part, and is mentioned in the list of the kings who were reigning in the different countries in the year 905, that Sháh Ismail had gained complete dominion over Irák. His dynasty had driven the Perfect Law [Shariat] out of that country, and had brought about general massacres. However, there is no room in this Epitome for an exposition of his misdeeds. When the frontiers of Sháhi Beg Khán's states came to border on Irák, the Uzbeg used to make forays into those parts of Irák which immediately adjoined Khorásán. On this account Sháh Ismail sent an envoy to Sháhi Beg Khán, bearing suitable gifts, together with a letter, which ran as follows: “Hitherto the dust of dissension has never settled upon the skirts of our thoughts to such an extent as to raise a cloud of enmity. Let the path of fatherly conduct be observed on your side, and on this side the bonds of filial relationship shall be established. [Verses]
Plant the tree of friendship: for its fruit will be the desire of your heart;
Root up the sapling of enmity, which produces countless griefs.”
When the bearer of this missive arrived* at the court of the Khán, the [following] answer was returned: “It is fitting that every man follow the profession of his father. If he follows his mother he is going backwards. For Uzun Hasan withdrew himself from the circle of kings, on the day that he gave his daughter in marriage to your father, as did also Sultán Yakub, son of Hasan, in giving him his sister. You had a right to make claims on your mother's side, so long as there was no son in the world like me— Sultán, son of a Sultán. As the proverb says: ‘Let the son do the father's work, and the daughter the mother's.’ [Verses]
Kings know the secrets of the business of the realm.
Oh! Háfiz, thou beggar, sitting in the corner, do not complain.”
Having exhausted his eloquence, Sháhi Beg Khán sent back by the envoy a staff [ásá] and a beggar's bowl [kachkul], adding: “In case you have forgotten your father's trade, I remind you of it. [Verses.]
Oh! my friend, if you value your life give ear to good counsel;
Ye happy youths, listen to the wisdom of the sage old man.
If you place your foot on the step of sovereignty think of your own danger. [Verses.]
He may clasp the bride of sovereignty firmly to his breast,
Who dares to kiss her amid the clashing of keen swords.”
So saying, he dismissed the envoy from Irák, while he himself led an army against the Hazára. The envoy, on his return, delivered the reply to Sháh Ismail, who, on hearing it, said: “If it is incumbent on every son to follow his father's trade, we, being sons of Adam, ought all of us to practise prophecy! If sovereignty had been confined to the hereditary descendants of kings, there would have been more Pishdádi, and never any Kaiani. How would Chingis himself have become king? and where did you come from?
| [Verses.] | Oh! youth, do not boast of your dead father; |
| Do not, like a dog, take delight in bones!” |
Then, in return for his presents, he sent Sháhi Beg Khán a spinning-wheel and spindle, saying: “You wrote in your letter to me, ‘Whosoever would clasp the bride of sovereignty close to his breast …’ I, too, say the same thing, and behold, I have bound on the girdle to offer you fight, and have placed the foot of contest in the stirrup of fierce warfare. If you come out to meet me face to face in battle, our claims shall be thereby decided. And if you will not fight, go and sit in a corner and busy yourself with the little present I am sending you. [Verses.]
We have had many experiences in this monastery of Recompenses.
Whosoever quarrelled with the Family of the Prophet was defeated.”
Sháhi Beg Khán had disbanded his army, and was in Merv when this letter arrived. He despatched expresses to every quarter to collect his forces, but before even the troops of the neighbouring districts could assemble, Sháh Ismail arrived and pitched his camp in the vicinity of Merv. During three days there were continual skirmishes, and the army of Sháhi Beg Khán began to muster from all directions. Sháh Ismail then came out from the broken ground [where he was camped], and when the pickets of the Uzbeg army saw this movement they reported it. The Uzbeg [at once] imagined that the enemy had repented having come, and were about to turn back. At the hour of afternoon prayers, on the ruz-i-shak of Ramazán in the year 916 [1510 A.D.], they marched out, with a force of about 20,000 men. Some of his advisers, such as Amir Kambar and Amir Rái, represented that: “To-day we had better suspend hostilities [and not pursue Sháh Ismail]; for Ubaid Ullah Sultán and Timur Sultán are encamped with 20,000 men at a distance of one farsákh; [to-morrow they will come and join their force to ours]. Moreover, it has been positively ascertained that the enemy, in thus returning, either means to retreat or [to draw us on to] battle. If they wish to fight, we had better [wait until more of our troops have assembled from the surrounding districts] and engage them with as large a force as possible. And if they are really in flight, there is no necessity for the chief to pursue them in person. Ubaid Ullah Sultán, Timur Sultán, and a few other Amirs can follow them, while His Majesty the Khán can travel quietly and leisurely, stage by stage, right into Irák. It is evident that in the case of his retreating from this place, our men can drive him forward and rout him, so that he will not have strength to establish himself even in Irák.” To this the Khán replied: “[You have said well] nevertheless, to make war on Sháh Ismail is a holy war, and one of importance: moreover there will be much plunder, and it would be a sacrifice of gain in this world and advantage in the next, were I to share [this undertaking] with the Sultáns. We must be bold.” So saying, he [mounted his horse and that same hour] set out [in pursuit of Sháh Ismail]. When they had crossed the broken ground and entered the open plain, they saw that the enemy had halted, and they calculated them to be 40,000 strong. Before the Uzbeg army had time to get properly into fighting order, the Turkomán contingent charged them. When Sháhi Beg Khán's men saw themselves outflanked by the enemy, they lost their steadiness and turned in flight. But the leaders of the army stood their ground, till at length Sháhi Beg Khán and all his officers were killed. No history has recorded, nor has any one read or heard of [another] battle in which all the commanders of the army were slain.
When the fugitives reached the fort of Merv, every man of them who was able to do so, took his family and fled, while such as were unable, repeated the verse [from the Korán] about separation from wife and children, and then departed.
Now, most of the Moghuls had been sent to Khorásán by Sháhi Beg Khán, so that they might be further from the Kháns and from Moghulistán. When the Uzbeg reached the River Amu, they fell into the hands of these Moghuls, who did not fail to plunder them. 20,000 Moghuls then separated themselves and went to Kunduz. Ubaid Ullah Sultán and Timur Sultán were still encamped near Merv, when news of the defeat reached them. They immediately repaired to the fort of Merv, when they seized the haram of Sháhi Beg Khán, and of several of the Sultans and nobles, together with anything that caught their eye, and went off again the same night. Of those who stayed behind, all the men were compelled, by the flashing swords of the Turkománs, to taste the wine of martyrdom, while the women were carried off into bondage. There followed, also, a general massacre of the people of Merv.
Meanwhile Sháh Ismail returned to Herat, where he commanded all the chief men [akábir] of the town to assemble in the Mulkán mosque, and read the Khutba; also, while the Khutba was being read, to pour out curses upon the Companions of the Prophet and the faithful Aisha. When the chief men were met together in the mosque of Mulkán, they carried out that unseemly order, and then remained silent, until Háfiz-ud-Din, who was the preacher [khatib], was conducted to the pulpit. Háfiz ascended the pulpit and gave out praise and thanksgiving to the Bestower of all good gifts, and praises to the Lord of all living things [the Prophet]. When the turn came for the blessed names of the Companions of the Prophet, the hand of honour and piety seized the collar of [faithfulness to] Islám and gave him the courage of Háfiz, so that he, preferring the good things of the next world, and eternal felicity, to this transitory life, said: “For many years I have read the Khutba in accordance with the Sunna. To-day, the sun of my life has reached the west of old age. If it were the dawn of my days, I might not have hesitated to perform this act of infidelity to preserve my young life; but now that my days are just drawing to a close, what benefit could I derive from such an act of blasphemy [kufr]?” So saying, he proceeded to read out the names of the Companions, with the customary honour and respect. The accursed Kizilbásh (may God curse them) rose up to a man, and pulled the hoaryheaded Háfiz down from the pulpit, by his collar, trampled him under their feet, and then cut him in pieces; while the great men of the city all fled.
On the following day, the Shaikh-ul-Islám (who has been mentioned among the great men of Khorásán) was sent for by Sháh Ismail. When the Shaikh came into the king's presence, the king turned to him and said: “Oh, Shaikh! you are a learned man. It is a pity you should commit an error. Come and curse the Companions and adopt the Shia faith.” The Shaikh then opened his lips and said: “Oh, my son! what do you know of religion, that you should point out the way thereof to me? Bring before me those cowardly men who are nothing more or less than infidels and worthy of death, and who have brought you to this sad plight. If their words convince me, I will renounce my own faith and enter their sect. But if the superiority of my religion is proved against them, then you will renounce your corrupt belief and adopt my pure faith.”
Then Sháh Ismail turned to his Ulama and asked them what they had to say to this. They replied: “With people such as these words are of no avail.”
That hundred times a wretch twice turned towards the Shaikh ul-Islám and said: “Come, Shaikh, renounce your sect.” But the Shaikh retorted insultingly: “Oh, cursed infidel, may your mouth he filled with the earth of malediction, and your head struck with the stones of execration! You, who are deceived by false and wicked guides, and cannot distinguish between the path of life and the road to perdition: what do you know of religion, or of sects? How do you know Satan from God the all-merciful? By what science, learning, intelligence, or perception can you distinguish the true from the false, that you should lecture me on the True Faith?” On hearing these scornful remarks, the king laid hold of his bow and let fly an arrow at the Shaikh, which struck him. The Shaikh pulled the arrow out, rubbed some of the blood that issued from the wound, over his blessed face and white beard, saying: “Thanks be to God, that after a life of eighty years spent in the confirmation of the True Faith, and the refutation of false doctrine, I have seen my white beard stained with the blood of martyrdom.” That black-faced heretic [bad-kish] then drew another arrow from his quiver [kish], and shot it at the Shaikh. He then gave orders for him to be carried out and hanged on a tree, and for the tree to be afterwards cut down from the root. The Shaikh fell with the tree, and they carried him away and burned him in the Malik bazaar. Try as they might, they could not make the blessed breast of the Shaikh to burn, and he lay for some time in the bazaar exposed to the kicks of infidels…* In short, the persecution was continued as long as Sháh Ismail remained in Khorásán.
A summarised account of the rest of his reign will follow.