Abukai Khan was seated on the throne of his father in 663 Hejri in the village of Khifan Kum; his vuzeer was named Osooghchak; at the time of his accession Burkeh Khan, the son of Joje, reigned in Kupchak, and Boorak Khan, the son of Sookur, the son of Kamkar, the son of Chughtaie, was king of the Aloos, or tribe of Chughtaie.
When Abukai was established on the throne of Persia, he presented the iron durbund* of Shirwan to Bishmoot, his brother, and despatched his brother, Tyubeen Ooghul to Khorasan; he also committed the charge of Persia, as viceroy, to Sooghchak, and appointed Khwajeh Shums-ud-deen Mahummud Joini to the vuzarut, and Khwajeh Alauddin Ata Mullik to the government of the Darul Islam Baghdad. Shums-ud-deen was a very able vuzeer and both just and liberal; he was also very zealous in support of his religion.
In the time of Abukai, the son of Hulako, therefore, the learned and religious were protected, and received every encouragement.
Khwajeh Alauddin Ata Mullik, used every endeavour to restore the city of Baghdad to its former splendour, and in a great measure succeeded in repeopling and rebuilding that place. Khwajeh Bahauddin Mahummud, on the contrary, committed many ácts of oppression and violence in Isfahan, and executed many persons, both good and bad; and notwithstanding his father, Shums-ud-deen Mahummud, wrote to him reprobating his conduct, and forbidding the shedding of so much blood, it was of no avail: however, the maledictions of the oppressed at last seized him, and he was cut off in his youth. It is related that in the commencement of the reign of Abukai, Boorkeh Khan, the son of Joje Khan, despatched prince Booka with an army by the road of the Durbund of Shirwan to Azurbijan. Bishmoot, the son of Hulako, was appointed by his brother to oppose this invasion, and on the 20th Suffur 664, a battle was fought between these princes, and the troops of Kupchak were defeated. When Boorkeh Khan heard of this event, he assembled three hundred thousand men, and advanced himself to conquer Persia, by the route of Durbund to the river Kurd.
Abukai Khan also assembled a great army, and encamped on the this side of the river; after remaining in this situation a few days, Boorkeh Khan marched to Teflis to cross the bridge there, and while on the march died suddenly: on his death his troops dispersed and returned to their homes.
In the year 666 Hejri, Borak Khan the son of Sookur Khan, the son of Kamkar, the son of Chughtaie, who was the sovereign of the tribes of Chughtaie Khan, despatched Musood Beg Bulloche, who came from Bokhara, from the camp of Chughtaie, to Abukai Khan, with messages of friendship, but in reality that he should examine into the strength and quality of his army, and the state of the intervening roads. When Musood Beg arrived near the camp of Abukai Khan, the vuzeer Khwajeh Shums-ud-deen went out to meet him, and on his approach, to show him civility and respect, dismounted from his horse and proceeded to embrace him on foot; the Bulloche, however, from pride would not dismount, but received the embrace of the Khwajeh on his horse; the vuzeer was much vexed at this mark of disrespect, but could not conveniently demand satisfaction for the insult or take notice of it. When Musood Beg was introduced to Abukai Khan, at Tubreez, he also made another display of his vanity, and in declaring the purposes of his mission, which he did in very elegant language, took his seat above all the other ameers; but, after two or three days, seeing he was held in dislike and suspicion, he demanded his dismissal, and mounting a swift horse, returned as fast as he was able to Mawurunneher. After the departure of Musood Beg, it was reported to Abukai Khan that his mission was one of deceit, and that he brought a secret message from the tribe of Chughtaie to Tokzur Sookur, the son of Kamkar, the son of Chughtaie, who was in Georgia, ordering or inciting him to join them, in an attack on Abukai Khan. Abukai, Khan, therefore, despatched his servants to pursue and bring him back, but without success, as Musood Beg, when he arrived at Azurbijan had placed relays of horses on the road, and had, therefore, posted the whole of the way, returning. When Musood Beg returned to Borak Khan, he made his report of what he had seen and heard, and Borak Khan collected his horses, and assembled an army to invade Persia. Abukai Khan, in the mean time, being aware of his intentions, despatched an army under Ameer Shiramoon, to attack Tokzur, the son of Chughtaie Khan, then in Gurjistan or Georgia, and this force, in the month of Showaul 667 Hejri, attacked Tokzur Ooghul when he was unprepared for such an event, and took him prisoner, and from this cause arose a war, between the Ameers of the Chughtaie tribe and Abukai Khan. In the same year (667), Borak Khan, with a force estimated at one hundred thousand horse, marched to attack Abukai Khan, and having crossed the Jihoon, or Oxus, advanced towards Persia, ravaging the provinces of Khorasan and Azurbijan. Abukai Khan also marched towards Khorasan, with a large army to oppose him, and in the month of Zi Huj 668 Hejri, the armies met at a village six farsangs from Herat; a battle ensued, in which the army of Borak Khan was totally defeated, and all his baggage taken by Abukai Khan; Abukai left his brother Tyubeen Ooghul in charge of Khorasan, and then returned to Azurbijan. It is well known that after this period Abukai Khan was engaged in warfare with the kings of Egypt, and therefore it may not be amiss to preface an account of these events, by an abridgment of the history of the kings of that country, trusting it may prove agreeable to the learned.