The first disagreeable circumstance which occurred in the commencement of my reign, was the rebellion of the chief Zindē Khushm, and which required all my exertion to quell. It has been before mentioned, that when Amyr Hussyn was killed, I confirmed all his governors in their posts, one of the most important of these situations, was the government of Shyrghān, held by Zindē Khushm; but as he was suspected by my ministers to be unworthy of confidence, they had advised me to remove him; I replied, “I have promised safety and security for three years to every person, whether friend or enemy, provided they behave properly;” but Zindē Khushm soon raised the standard of opposition by taking under his protection Amyr Musā, formerly Hussyn’s Commander-in-Chief, who had come over to my party; and when I marched against Balkh, had accompanied me the first day’s journey, but had again deserted at the second stage, and fled towards Tūrkistān; but hearing of the death of Amyr Hussyn, he had sent me an apology for his conduct, and solicited my forgiveness, in consequence of which, I sent him an assurance of safety; but as he was a deceitful fellow, and suspicious of others, notwithstanding he had suffered much in wandering about the deserts, and had been frequently routed by my troops, still he had the impudence to refuse the edict I sent him, accompanied by a promise of safety, and his heart not being clean, he again made battle, but being a second time defeated, he fled on foot with his family, and took refuge with Zindē Khushm, who at his instigation, now raised the standard of rebellion, and began to act improperly.
On being informed of this circumstance, I did not take any notice of it, and pretended such ignorance, that I never mentioned either of their names, or said good or bad on the subject. At length my nobles said to me, “it is quite requisite to go and subdue these two rebels;” I replied, “if I proceed against them in person, it will make them of too much importance in the eyes of my subjects; for if they venture to contend with me, and I shall prove victorious, what fame shall I gain, it will be merely said, that I have punished two of Amyr Hussyn’s servants; no, I will summon them to come to court, if they obey it will be all well, if not, they will be guilty of disobedience, and evince their hostility, I shall then find no difficulty in punishing them.”
In consequence of this resolution, I sent an invitation to Zindē Khushm, by the hands of Amyr Aljaitū: on the receipt of my edict, he treated my messenger with great respect, made use of many flattering expressions, and promised immediately to wait on me. Aljaitū therefore returned and informed me of his success, but I told him I feared he had been deceived, which proved to be the case.
Shortly after this circumstance, it happened that Byram Shāh Arlāt, who had deserted from Amyr Hussyn, and had gone into Khurasān, having heard of the death of his late master, and my having mounted the throne, was on his way to pay his respects to me, but Zindē Khushm intercepted him, and under pretence of hospitality, seized and confined him.*
On hearing of this event, I sent another summons to Zindē Khushm, by the hands of Taban Behader, but that impudent scoundrel imprisoned my messenger, on which the fire of my anger being stirred, I ordered that my tents should be pitched on the route to Shyrghān; when Zindē Khushm was informed of this circumstance, he was much alarmed, and shut himself up in the white fort of Shyrghān, but wrote to Amyr Aljaitū to beg for my forgiveness, and sent him a shroud and scymitar to lay before me as emblems of his forlorn condition, and after a few days, he sent his younger brother, Islām and Amyr Musā, (both of whom had behaved treacherously towards me) bound neck and hand to Samerkund.
I immediately pardoned Amyr Musā, and gave him the command of his own tribe, but my ministers remonstrated that it was improper to confer such an honour on a treacherous scoundrel, I replied, “that in consequence of this act of kindness, many of the disaffected and rebellious chiefs would be induced to come in;” in fact the sending Amyr Musā in the manner described, was a stratagem of Zindē Khushm’s to ascertain my disposition, whether it was of a forgiving or revengeful nature; I therefore put confidence in his protestations, and remained quietly in my capital.
The second disturbance that took place in the commencement of my reign was this: notwithstanding my having pardoned the crimes of Zindē Khushm, and drawn the pen of forgiveness over his evil actions, he at the instigation of the disciples and scholars of the prelate Abū al Muāly of Termuz, again placed his foot on the path of insurrection, and endeavoured to excite commotions against my government; he therefore collected an army, and plundered the hordes who resided in the vicinity of Balkh and Termuz.
On hearing of this event, I gave orders to those chiefs who were in attendance, to march immediately with their troops, and without halting on any pretence, to attack Zindē Khushm, and compel him to restore all the plunder he had taken; I also sent off two other detachments to the right and left, to surround him, my victorious army having marched with great expedition, came up with the rear of Zindē Khushm’s troops as they were crossing the Jihūn over a bridge of boats, and caused a number of them to be drowned in the river, and of those, who had crossed and were drawn up on the opposite bank, many were killed or wounded, and all the cattle were retaken.
After this event, Zindē Khushm fled, and was pursued by Arghūn Shāh, nearly as far as Shyrghān; but the rebel having secured himself in the fort, began to fortify it: my general wrote and informed me that he had surrounded the fortress, and requested reinforcements, assuring me that he would soon bring the rebel bound hand and foot to my presence. On receipt of this intelligence, I presented Amyr Jakū with a scymitar, a dress of honour, and a horse, and sent him off with a considerable reinforcement.
Amyr Jakū marched with great expedition, and laid siege to Shyrghān, but as the winter had just set in, he could only blockade the place for three months; at the expiration of this period, the garrison being much in want of provisions, Zindē Khushm requested Amyr Jakū to intercede with me for pardon, and trusting to my mercy, came out of the fort and proceeded to Samerkund; when he approached the city, I ordered all my chiefs to go out and meet him, and to pay him much respect and honour.
When brought to my presence with the sword hung about his neck, he was much downcast, and expected that I would command his being put to death; I however said to him, “Zindē Khushm, I have it now in my power either to kill you, or to keep you in perpetual confinement, but as I consider you a brave young man, I will generously forgive you, provided that contrary to your past behaviour, you will not in future transgress, nor allow yourself to be led away by insidious people, but go to your own tribe and bring them all into subjection to me:” he replied with great warmth, “I will in future devote my life as an offering to your Highness;” I therefore conferred a dress of honour on him, and admitted him into my service. He immediately went across the Sihūn, and in a short period persuaded the horde of Timūr to submit to my authority, and brought their (Kelanters) head men to my court, in reward for which, I again conferred on him the government of Shyrghān,* and gave the command of the horde of Timūr to Kepek Timūr.*
The third disturbance which took place in the commencement of my reign, was the rebellion of Kepek Timūr: this was a person that I had raised from a very low situation, but when he found himself in authority, he soon betrayed the baseness of his origin, and evinced his ingratitude; he even erected the standard of rebellion, and collected a considerable army. I therefore promoted Behram Jelayr, (who had been for some time in disgrace for misconduct at Tashkund, but who had offered to go and bring Kepek Timūr bound hand and neck into my presence) and sent him with Shykh Aly Khetay Behader, and other officers to punish Kepek Timūr.
It so happened that a party of Jelayr’s own tribe were dissatisfied with him, and watched an opportunity to assassinate him, but he having discovered their intentions, was obliged to take refuge with Shykh Aly. About this time the two armies came in sight, but were separated by the river Aishē Khātun: when the royal army had reached the bank of the river, Khetay Behader having taken offence at his superior officer for some imputation against his courage, drew his sword, plunged his horse into the stream, and having crossed alone, pushed on towards Kepek Timūr’s standard, but was immediately surrounded by the soldiers of the rebel, Shykh Aly, and his troops having by this time crossed the river engaged the enemy, who alarmed by the vigour of the attack, were shortly broken, and during the night, fled in every direction. Shykh Aly then made peace with Kepek, and having severely punished the mutineers of Behram Jelayr’s division, returned to me.
The fourth disturbance that occurred was, the invasion of the Jetes: it appeared that during the insurrection of Zindē Khushm and Amyr Musā, they had written to the Khān of the Jetes, that if he would advance with an army into Maveralnaher, they would seize me, and deliver up the country to him; in consequence of which, the stupid Khān collected an army, and advanced towards Maveralnaher: as soon as I received intelligence of this event, I resolved to be before hand with him, I therefore marched from Samerkund, and advanced rapidly as far as Nekah, to meet the Jetes, but when they heard of my advance, they deemed it prudent to retreat.
At this time, four of my chiefs, viz. Zindē Khushm, Amyr Musā, Abūlys, and Abūal Mualy, of Termuz, all of whom were under great obligations to me, entered into a confederacy to assassinate me whilst I was enjoying the amusement of hawking or hunting. Thus one day while I was amusing myself, and had a Falcon on my hand, these four cavaliers attacked my attendants; I immediately placed the small drum I held in my hand, on my head as a helmet, loosed the bird, drew my sword, and called out to them with all my might; when they heard my voice, they were terrified, and attempted to run away, but my attendants seized them: I then gave orders to confine them, and continued my sport.
When I returned to my capital at Samerkund, I summoned a general assembly of all the chiefs, and the learned body, and the Syeds; I then ordered the four prisoners to be brought before the assembly, when they were brought into the court, I addressed the judges and said, “what is the punishment due to a party of confederates who conspire against the life of a Muselmān;” they replied, “the punishment of the law is retaliation, but forgiveness is better, for the first offence.” I then said to Abū Muāly, “you know that I am a Muselmān, and that I am obedient to the law of the Prophet, how is it possible that you who call yourself a descendant of the Prophet, and who have received so many favours from me, should dare to make an attempt against my life? but I pardon you for the sake of his holiness the Prophet.”
I then said to Abūlys, “I also forgive you, because you are a Shykh, (Arabian descent)” and I dismissed him. To Amyr Musā, I said, “you and I are connexions, (by marriage)* and I have made a vow never to destroy any of my relations, I therefore pardon you.” With respect to Zindē Khushm, I conferred his government of Shyrghān upon Myan Timūr, and gave the prisoner into his charge to do as he pleased with him.
The fifth disturbance that took place in my government, was the dispute with Hussyn Sūfy, the ruler of Khuarizm.* As it had been previously represented in my council, that Hussyn Sūfy had shewn signs of hostility by sending troops to plunder part of my territory, I received at this time a representation from the prelates and principal inhabitants of Khuarizm, containing complaints against their ruler, and stating that their country, with the districts of Khyuk and Kāt, had from time immemorial, belonged to the Jagtay family, but that Hussyn Sūfy having found them without a master, had taken possession of the kingdom, and exercised great tyranny and oppression over the inhabitants; it was therefore incumbent on me to deliver them from the hands of the oppressor.
In consequence of this intelligence, I deliberated with myself whether I should immediately march in person to deliver Khuarizm from the grasp of Hussyn Sūfy, or whether I should send an army under the command of another person. The determination that sprung from the east of my heart was this, that I should first turn my reins towards Khurasān; but as my mind was not quite at ease with regard to Badukhshān, I appointed Amyr Jakū to the governments of Kundez, Bukelān, and the boundaries of Kabūl, and sent with him a large army to protect these places.