The kings of the Moghools who reigned in Aligh Yurut, otherwise called Kulooran, Ardooealigh, and Karakorum are twenty-one persons, of whom the first was Ooktaie Khan, or Qaan, the son of Chungeez Khan. It has been stated, that the sons and relations of Chungeez Khan after observing the usual period of mourning, retired each to the government or possessions allotted to him in the reign of Chungeez Khan, and after making arrangements for the regulation and safety of their possessions, a work which employed them two years, in the spring of the third they all assembled at Ardoo e Baligh to form a kooriltaie. The sons of Joje Khan, Manvi, Sheiban, Chompae, Tunghoob, Boorkeh, Burukcha, Toomooghul, Awurdeh, and Shuknak also arrived there from the Desert of Kupchak. From the eastward came the brothers of Chungeez Khan, Ootgeen, Rookai, Talgooti Noyaun, and Yusukai Noyaun (the sons of Yusukai Bahadoor). Chughtaie Khan also arrived from Paish Baligh with Kurachar Noyaun, the son of Sooghoo Chichun from his encampment, and Aligh Noyaun alias Prince Tooli, with his younger brothers and ameers, and chiefs from every part. Encampments for each of these chiefs were assigned agreeably to their rank, and a grand feast was prepared, at which the testament of Chungeez Khan and the future arrangements of the empire were discussed. The written declarations given by Chungeez Khan to his sons were also read to the troops, and Ooktaie Khan was elected sovereign.
The ameers, therefore requested Ooktaie Khan to take his seat on the throne. Ooktaie Khan, however, to the surprise of all, refused, and said in apology, that there were senior brethren to him who were better able to assume the supreme direction of the empire, and that, during their life-time, he did not consider himself justified in ascending the throne; that if it should accord with the sentiments of the chiefs, there were his uncles, Ootgeen, and Tulkooti Bahadoor, or Chughtaie Khan his elder brother, any of whom might be selected and constituted king, and under whom he would be happy to serve. After a discussion carried on in a succession of banquets which lasted for forty days, during which Ooktaie Khan did not decline from his original objections, on the forty-first day the whole of the princes, ladies Noyauns, and ameers came forward, and said, that the orders of Chungeez Khan must be observed; that he had selected Ooktaie Khan to reign in his stead, and that his will should and must be obeyed; then, according to the custom of the Moghools, they raised their cups of wine to their heads, and loosened their girdles, and Chughtaie Khan taking Ooktaie Khan’s right hand, and Ootgeen Bahadoor his left, agreeably to the directions of the astrologers convened for the occasion, they seated him on the throne, and each prince and ameer hailed him king, by bending the knee nine times before him;* Tooli Khan was appointed his cup<-?>bearer.
Ooktaie Khan ascended the throne two years after the death of his father, that is, in the year of the Hejri 626, agreeing with Oodi Eel Toorki, and received from his brethren and ameers the title of Qaan, or the rightful and legitimate king. Notwithstanding he was the son of Chungeez Khan, he was a wise and liberal prince, and the greatest king in his time. He was kind to all, and a great friend to the Mussulmans, and although not a Mahummuddan himself, he appeared, like his father, to prefer their faith to any other. It is related that on one occasion an infidel, who was not a Moghool, came to him and said, that Chungeez Khan had appeared to him in a dream, and had desired him to go to Ooktaie Khan and tell him that until he destroyed the wicked Mahummuddans, he should not be satisfied with him. A number of Ooktaie Khan’s ameers also joined the fellow in inciting him to a massacre of the Mussulmans. It is related that Ooktaie Khan, after some consideration, said, “I cannot believe this man’s story, for this reason, that my father was acquainted with no other language than that of the Moghools, and this man does not understand the Moghool tongue. His story is, therefore, a mere fabrication, and he deserves to be put to death:” and he was put to death accordingly. It is said that it was from a sense of his justice, truth, and worth, that his father appointed him his successor. The word ooktaie in the Moghool language signifies ascent or exaltation. The record of his expenses states that he bestowed, in gifts, sixty millions of Moghool tomans. The toman of the Moghools is ten thousand common tomans, and is called in the Turkish language sipan. The toman which is estimated at fifty ordinary tomans, is called the kuzulbash or ghuzulbash toman.
Historians say, that the disturbances which occurred after the death of Chungeez Khan, were repressed by Ooktaie Khan without difficulty. Ooktaie Khan had armies, under able generals, in the countries of Kupchak, Sookseen, Bulgharia, China, Khita, and Khotun. Among these was an army of three tomans under Churmagoon, sent to oppose Sultan Julal-ud-deen, the son of Sultan Mahummud Khorazm. Ooktaie Khan is reported, when Churmagoon departed, to have said to one of the officers named Taimas, proceeding with him, that the death of Sultan Julal-ud-deen would be by his hand, which, in the event, actually was the case.
Sultan Julal-ud-deen, at that time, returned from Hindoostan, and had proceeded to Azurbijan, by the route of Keich, Mukran, Kirman, and Sheeraz; and had wrested Tubreez from Sultan Atabuk (Zungi), as has been before related.
When Churmagoon arrived at Isfahan, he despatched Taimas with a body of troops in advance, and Sultan Julal-ud-deen met them in the field, but was defeated, and subsequently disappeared in the environs of Diarbukir and Kurdistan; after his arrival in those parts he was never more heard of. He had two valiant brothers, both kings; one named Ghiaus, and the other Zein-ud-deen: one met his|death at Kirman, and the other was killed by the Moghools at Ferozekoh; the whole of the children of Khorezm Shah, were thus destroyed. It is said, Sultan Julal was murdered by the Kurds for his robes, and some say he became a durveish; but others relate he was killed in battle, and that he fell by the hand of Taimas, but God alone knows the truth.