In the year 769, I entered my thirty-third year, and being of a restless disposition, I was much inclined to invade some of the neighbouring countries; but at this time my spies came and informed me that the Jete army was approaching, I considered this a fortunate circumstance, and employed myself in equipping my army; soon after I had received this intelligence, a messenger arrived from Amyr Hussyn, who stated, “that the Jete army, resembling a dark cloud, were advancing, and that a sun-like Timūr, was requisite to disperse it,” and made use of many other flattering expressions. In reply to these fulsome compliments, I produced to the messenger, the agreement written by Amyr Hussyn, for the division of the country of Cabūl, and said, “after having conquered that place, your master did not even thank me for my assistance, much less fulfil his promise of giving it to me.”
When Amyr Hussyn received my message, he immediately sent his general, Musā, to me to say, “that the whole of the country of Cabūl was at my service,” but I did not credit this speech, and replied, “if it shall please God, I will retake the country from the Jetes, without being under any obligation to your master.” I then resolved to allow the Jete army to enter the country.
At this time, Amyr Hussyn sent an order to Musā, to cross the river Sihūn, with all his forces; Musā complied, and having crossed the river, came in sight of the Jetes, who immediately marched from their cantonment, near Tashkund, and made a rapid charge on the army of Musā, the latter being defeated, recrossed the river. When this news reached Amyr Hussyn, he marched from Balkh, and halted in the plains of Kesh: during this time, the Jetes being puffed up by success, continued to advance; on which Amyr Hussyn being greatly alarmed, came to my habitation, and having entered, said to me, “when our enemies the Jetes shall have destroyed me, what do you mean to do;” I replied, “whatever God shall please, I will do;” the Amyr was much affected by my speech, and said, “God grant that you with a strong heart, may mount and take command of the advanced army, and march against the enemy, while I protect the rear, for I see that Providence has written the signs of victory and success on your forehead;” on hearing this, my chiefs were very much incensed, and said, “how long are we to fight the battles, and be killed and wounded in the service of another, and wear the clothes, and eat the morsels of a stranger.”
In the public assembly, Amyr Hussyn wrote out and offered to me an agreement, that Samerkund should be mine as formerly; I replied, “I will not accept Samerkund from you, but if it shall please God, I will take it from the enemy by the power of my sword.”
When Amyr Hussyn saw my magnanimity, and that I would not accept of Samerkund from him, he put on a melancholy countenance, told me of the defeat of his forces, and of the power of the Jetes; although he was apparently sincere in his desire to make friends, the real fact was, that he wished me to be defeated, as Amyr Musā had been, and compelled to retreat.
But I placing my confidence in the aid of the Prophet, and his illustrious companions, determined to fight the Jetes, and having assembled two thousand horse, marched from the plain of Kesh, towards the bank of the river Sihūn. As we went on, it entered my mind, that as there was a great jealousy existed between Kummer Addyn and Hajy Beg, the enemy’s two generals, if I could foment a quarrel between them, I might soon settle the business of the Jetes. It so happened as I had wished, for they openly quarrelled, in consequence of which, one half of the army took the part of Kummer Addyn, and the other half, the part of Hajy Beg, and a regular battle took place between them. When I received this news, I immediately marched to attack the Jete forces; when I approached them, they were alarmed, and fled towards their cantonments; thus by the Almighty aid, I returned victorious and successful. When intelligence of this event reached Amyr Hussyn, he came to meet me, took me in his arms, ordered the carpet of pleasure to be spread, and made great rejoicings.
While thus employed, information was brought that the Princes of Badukhshān had placed their feet on the path of transgression, and had plundered the city of Kundez; this intelligence caused Amyr Hussyn much anxiety, and he turned the face of entreaty towards me, for such was the practice of that Prince, that whenever any misfortune occurred, he cried like a woman, but when successful, he boasted as if he had been a hero: another of his bad qualities was, that he was very envious, in so much, that he envied his own servants, whom he had promoted, whenever they were fortunate, and by his bad conduct to them and folly, caused them to rebel. Thus whenever he had appointed a new governor to a district, he wished to take from the preceding one, every thing he had made, and never allowed any governor to remain more than a year in any country, so that they never had an opportunity of realizing their expences.
It was in this manner he treated the Princes of Badukhshān, who had been very submissive to him, and paid him a large tribute, which this year he had encreased far beyond their power of liquidating, and had even taken Kundez from them, contrary to agreement. In consequence of this oppression, they were incensed, and plundered part of Hussyn’s territory; the Amyr sent an army against them, which was defeated, for the fact was, that many of his officers were so disgusted with his empty professions and conduct, that they united with the Princes of Badukhshān, in a determination to depose Hussyn, and even wrote letters to me on the subject, with complaints against him. When intelligence of these circumstances were communicated to the Amyr, he came during the night to me, and with much supplication, begged that I would preserve him and his government: I shewed him the letters I had received, on reading them, he was astonished and bewildered; I therefore comforted him, and said, “I will bring over the Princes to you, either by war, or by peace; but there are two of your generals who have been always hypocrites, my advice is this, do not trust to them, but let me arrange the army; I will advance against the Princes of Badukhshān, and do you keep one days’ march in the rear:” he having agreed to this measure, we repeated the prayer for success; I then made long marches, and crossed the Jihūn, and encamped in the desert of Keshem, which is part of the territory of Badukhshān.
At this time, I received a letter from Amyr Hussyn, informing me that he had sent his son Jehān Mulk, to join me; I also was informed that the Princes of Badukhshān had taken possession of the summits and passes of the mountains of Hindū Kūsh, and had blocked them up; I therefore sent Jehān Mulk, who by this time had arrived, to force the passes, and clear the country, and then wait for my arrival.
Jehān Mulk immediately marched, and entered the passes of the mountain, and began to ravage and plunder the country; but the Princes of Badukhshān having dismounted their troops, closed up the ends of the passes, and opposed him valiantly; at length, the young man finding himself unable to contend with them, commenced his retreat, losing not only the plunder he had collected, but all his own effects; beside which, four hundred of his father’s soldiers were taken prisoners; in consequence of this misfortune, Jehān Mulk lost all self confidence, and retreated to me for safety.
I now placed my foot in the stirrup, and having arrived near the summit of the mountain, at the first charge I gained possession of the pass, cleared it of the Badukhshians, and took some of them prisoners. The remainder of them continued their retreat to the summit of Jerm, where they took post, and resolved to oppose me; I again mounted my horse, and having ordered the trumpets to sound, proceeded towards the enemy; when they saw my standards, and knew that I was advancing against them in person, they were terrified, and sent an ambassador to beg for mercy.
The next day a number of the respectable inhabitants and prelates of the city of Badukhshān, came and supplicated that I would spare the country, and requested that I would come and take up my abode with them. I therefore had compassion on their feelings, sent them back, and followed them to the city of Badukhshān.
At this place, the great men and officers of the army, and some of the Princes, waited on me, and brought me a number of presents, and returned all the plunder and cattle that had been taken from Jehān Mulk.
In consequence of their conduct, I resolved to remain in the city till I could ratify a peace between the Princes of Badukhshān and Amyr Hussyn. But the Amyr being dissatisfied at my delay, suspected that I was confederating with the Princes against him, he therefore sent an officer to inform me that Shykh Muhammed, son of Byān Seldūz, and Ky Khuserū, had assembled all their clans, had raised the standard of rebellion, and that he being satisfied with the reduction of Badukhshān, was on his return to Sali Seray. On receiving this information, I immediately put my foot in the stirrup, and followed the Amyr.
When I arrived at Sali Seray, which was his capital, I discovered the cause of the enmity of Shykh Muhammed and Ky Khuserū, for when I reached my own cantonment, I received letters from them, (written in the Tūrky language) saying, “we are afraid of the severity and stratagems of Amyr Hussyn, and “are convinced that your Highness being an unsuspicious character, will shortly “fall a prey to his deceit and fraud; we speak with the frankness of Tūrks, and “have repeated with our tongues whatever was in our hearts.”
At the same time, I learned that these two chiefs had written letters to Amyr Hussyn; I therefore shewed him the letters I had received, hoping that he would with the same openness and friendship, shew me those addressed to him, but he kept whatever was in his mind concealed, although I guessed that the contents of the two letters were nearly the same, in order to foment a quarrel between us; but Amyr Hussyn still believed that I was inimical to him, and meant to play him some trick; I further learned that the Amyr had said in a council of his confidential people, “as long as Timūr lives, my sovereignty and dominion is in danger, and that he was resolved to seize me:” I replied to my informant, “it is impossible, for Hussyn has taken his oath on the Korān, and promised never to attempt any thing against me, if he is no longer a Muselmān, the holy book should be taken away from him.
About this time, I also received a letter from Aādil Sultān, whom Amyr Hussyn, supposing him to be a descendant of Jengyz, had raised to the dignity of Khān, informing me that Hussyn certainly planned treachery against me: when I had read this letter, I was convinced that Hussyn having forgotten God, had some evil intentions against me. I however remained quite tranquil, and continued in appearance my friendship towards him, till the quarrel between him and the two before-mentioned chiefs, arose to extremes.
When Hussyn was convinced that Muhammed, son of Seldūz, and Ky Khuserū, were in an actual state of rebellion, he was much alarmed, and placing his foot in the stirrup, we both marched to the bank of the river Jihūn, and encamped there; the next day he directed his generalissimo, Amyr Musā, to cross the river with his troops, and attack the rebels, but the general refused, saying, “he was unequal to the task;” upon which, the Prince being helpless, came to my tent, and said, “I am well convinced that nothing can be effected without your assistance, I therefore entreat that you will take measures for quelling these rebels;” I immediately acquiesced, and having repeated the prayer for success, crossed the river. When the rebel chiefs were informed of this circumstance, they drew up their forces in order of battle. I did not delay an instant, but without giving them time to wait, advanced against them; when I arrived near them, Ky Khuserū said, “Timūr is too fortunate a personage for us to contend with, there is no utility in our drawing the sword against him, it will be better for us to separate, do you go to Khujend, and I will go to Alay,” and they accordingly set off.
When I received intelligence of their motions, I pursued them, but not being able to overtake either, I turned my reins towards Tashkund, and having written a report of all the circumstances, sent it to Amyr Hussyn: on the receipt of my letter, Hussyn being well satisfied, returned to Sali Seray: I amused myself some time in hunting, and then came back to my residence at Kesh.
Soon after this time, I received a letter from Amyr Hussyn, informing that he intended leaving Arheng Seray, and going to reside at Balkh, and asked me to accompany him, saying, “that after we are conjointly seated on the throne of dominion, we will take possession of all Khurasān, and then divide the countries of Turān and Khurasān between us, in a brotherly manner.” At the same time, a friend of mine, who was one of his council, wrote to me, advising me to say, “that I was quite satisfied with my residence at Kesh, and did not wish to change it;” he further cautioned me to be on my guard against Hussyn’s stratagems. From this hint, I was convinced that the Amyr had designs either to kill or confine me, I therefore refused to go to Balkh. This circumstance encreased the animosity between us, and he devised several plans for my destruction, and used many stratagems to get me in his power, but finding he could not succeed, he then endeavoured to disperse my followers, and send my Kushūn and horde into the desert. As his avarice and envy exceeded all bounds, he forgot all his solemn promises and oaths to me, and sent Pulād Bughā and Amyr Khēlyl, who were nearly connected with him, to expel my tribe out of the country, and compel them to remove to the district of Balkh.
The enmity of Amyr Hussyn being thus evident, I delivered him to the vengeance of the holy book, but my twelve chiefs came to me in a body, and having made their salutations, said, “if your Highness wishes to keep the command of your horde and clan, exert yourself; if not, let us go, that we may do the best we can for ourselves; till this day we have worn the sword of manliness, and have often used it in your service; now Pulād Bughā and Khēlyl are come, and wish to treat us as peasants, to tie us hand and neck, and oblige us to remove to Balkh.” Although I endeavoured to comfort them, they would not be satisfied, till I took an oath that I would not do any thing without their advice and concurrence: when I had thus tranquillized them, I said to them, “Amyr Hussyn has sworn on the Korān never to injure me, if he should break his promise, be assured that the sacred volume will throw him into my power;” and it turned out exactly as I said.
When the violence of Amyr Hussyn rose to the extreme, his disposition totally changed, and he became proud, haughty, and arrogant, and did every thing he could to annihilate me; it therefore became requisite to take measures for averting the danger, and of living in safety. I in consequence arranged my army, and placing the foot of courage in the stirrup of resolution, I ordered Pulād Bughā and Amyr Khēlyl, although the agents of, and supported by Amyr Hussyn, to be brought before me, I addressed them as follows; “what has Amyr Hussyn become a renegado, and turned Christian, that he forgets his oath taken on the holy Korān, and has bound round him the sword of vengeance against me, and against my horde and clan? He shall not do so with impunity; three times has he sworn by the sacred volume, and given me solemn promises, and now breaks his vows, and has beaten the drum of enmity, and seeks my life; I have therefore made my preparations, and will shortly pay him a visit.”
I then summoned all the (Oulemā) learned body, and having explained to them all the circumstances above related, demanded their (Futwā) decision, they replied, “as he has been the first to break his promise, and has dared to forswear himself, doubtless he will fall into your Highness’s power.” When Pulād Bughā and Khēlyl heard these words, they trembled, I therefore sent them away that they might inform their master of what they had seen and heard. As soon as this intelligence was communicated to Amyr Hussyn, he beat the drum of discord, and sought an opportunity of seizing me by intrigue, but I placing the foot of determination in the plain of sincerity, boldly declared whatever came into my mind, and said, “as long as Hussyn chose to be my friend, I was his friend, but now that he has chosen to be my enemy, he shall find me an enemy, and placing my trust in the favour of God, I loudly proclaimed, that up to this time, I have been amicably inclined towards him, but he, having broken his oath and promises, seeks to destroy me, I will therefore do every thing in my power to avert his evil designs:” on hearing this speech, my chiefs were all delighted, bound on the sword of unanimity, and prepared their clans for war.