HAVING passed the winter at Kará Tukái, the Khán proceeded in the spring to Táshkand. At that time there was, in Táshkand, one of the Amirs of Mirzá Sultán Abu Said, Shaikh Jamál-ud-Din Khar by name. Sultán Abu Said Mirzá had just died in Irák,* and had been succeeded in the rule of Khorásán by Sultán Husain Mirzá; while his son, Sultán Ahmad Mirzá, succeeded him in Samarkand. The government of Hisár, Kunduz and Badakhshán had devolved upon his son, Mirzá Sultán Mahmud, and Mirzá Omar Shaikh became pádisháh of Andiján, and vali of Farghána. Yunus Khán made all three of these Mirzás his sons-in-law. (I will mention each of them in his proper place.) In short, this Shaikh Jamál Khar was one of Sultán Abu Sáid's Amirs, and had been appointed Governor of Táshkand, subject to Mirzá Sultán Ahmad of Samar-kand; but his allegiance to the Mirzá was very imperfect. The Khán, on account of the scarcity of barley in Moghulistán, came to Táshkand, where he mixed freely and unsuspectingly with the above-mentioned Mirzás. For the Khán had come without any apprehensions; but his Moghul followers had sent secretly to Shaikh Jamál Khar, inviting him to come and oppose the Khán, to which the Shaikh, after much persuasion, agreed. He approached the Khán as if to do him homage, but when he drew near, all the men who were with the latter, went forward to meet the Shaikh, leaving the Khán alone. The Khán asked where his men were going, to which they answered that they were going to meet Mir Shaikh Jamál. When Shaikh Jamál Khar came up to the standard and drum of the Khán, he remained on horseback; there was no one with the Khán, so the Shaikh sent one of the Khán's own servants to seize him, which was easily managed. The Khán was bound and kept in prison one year. The whole Moghul Ulus submitted to Shaikh Jamál.

Isán Daulat Begum, the wife of Yunus Khán and mother of his children, has been mentioned above as the mother of Mihr-i-Nigár Khánim, who was given in marriage to Sultán Ahmad Mirzá, and of Kutluk Nigár Khánim, who was wedded to Mirzá Omar Shaikh. This same Isán Daulat Begum was given, as a present, by Shaikh Jamál Khar, to one of his most distinguished officers. When the Begum heard of this, she made no objections, but appeared pleased. They then informed Khwája Kalán (as this officer was named) of the Begum's pleasure: he too was much pleased, and in the evening went to her house. He found her servants standing outside. He himself entered her room. Now, before his arrival, the Begum had arranged with her female attendants [dáhán] that on a given sign from herself, they should make fast all the doors of the house. So when Khwája Kalán had entered the room, having fastened the doors, the female attendants laid hold of him and put him to death, by stabbing him with knives [kizlik]. When day broke they threw his body outside. Some persons seeing the Khwája's dead body, went and reported the matter to Shaikh Jamál, who sent to ask the Begum the meaning of it all. The Begum replied: “I am the wife of Sultán Yunus Khán; Shaikh Jamál gave me to some one else; this is not allowed by Muhammadan law, so I killed the man, and Shaikh Jamál Khar may kill me also if he likes.” Shaikh Jamál commended her words, and, taking pity on her, sent her back with all honour to the Khán [her husband].

When the Khán had been one year in prison, Amir Abdul Kudus, the nephew of Amir Karim Bardi Dughlát, with the assistance of a body of men, fell on the Shaikh and slew him. He then brought the head of the Shaikh to the Khán, and set him at liberty. The Amirs, who had gone over to the Shaikh, now returned to their allegiance under the Khán. They explained that the reason for the hostility they had shown him was, that he had always tried to make them settle in towns and cultivated countries, but that these places were hateful to them. So the Khán repented and said: “Henceforward I will give up all idea of living in towns and cultivated countries” [shahr u viláyat]. To record this event they invented the chronogram: sar-i-khar giriftah Abdul Kudus, which is enigmatical; for “sar-i-khar” is equivalent to the letter “khá” and has to be added to [the numerical value of] Abdul Kudus in order to produce the date 877 [1472-3].

At this time [in the same year] the Kálmáks returned to their own homes [yurt], and Moghulistán being left unoccupied, the Khán led his Moghuls back to their country.