Historians relate that the princes of the race of Chughtaie, who have ascended the throne of Tooraun to the present time, are in number twenty-eight. The first khan is Chughtaie Khan, the son of Chungeez Khan. Chughtaie Khan was the second son of Chungeez, and much beloved by his father; and it is also related, that he was a brave and liberal prince, and well acquainted with the arcana of government. Chungeez Khan, when he divided his possessions among his sons, gave to Chughtaie the dominion of the country of Tooraun; that is, from the frontier of Kashghur to the territory of Oighoor, and even to the river Jihoon, which is the boundary between Iran and Tooraun, with the addition of Balkh, Budukhshan, Kabul, Ghizni, and the country to the banks of the Indus: these countries, with the troops necessary to preserve them, and his son Chughtaie, Chungeez Khan delivered over to the care of Kurachar Noyaun (the son of Sooghoo Chichun, the son of Eeroomjee Birlas, the son of Kacholi Bahadoor, the son of Toomneh Khan), the descendant of his great uncle.
Chungeez Khan also recommended his son to his care with the greater earnestness, for this reason, that he himself owed all his good fortune to the aid and instruction of this brave Noyaun. It is proper to observe that, although Chungeez exceeded in his recommendation of Chughtaie Khan to Kurachar, yet he did not fail to impress the necessity of a strict conformity to Kurachar’s opinion on his son, and the well-known character of Kurachar Noyaun, and the opinion of his father, operated still more strongly on Chughtaie Khan to confide in his fidelity: he never, therefore, attempted any measure without first receiving his advice, from which he never deviated; and from the penetration and advice of this Noyaun, Chughtaie Khan became the first king of his age in wisdom and valour. “The country from the Land of the Deer to the Valley of the Naimans, was bestowed by Chungeez on his son Chughtaie,” who made Paish Baligh* his capital. Here he maintained the customs of yurgho and yasook with great severity, and suffered no details in those rules or arts of government to escape him, to that degree that in the spring and summer he ordered no one should sit in the water, and that no one should wash his hands in a river, or draw water from a river, except in a gold or silver vessel; also, that clothes washed should not be spread out on the ground to dry: all these things being in opposition to the customs of the Moghools; for the practice of them is said to produce thunder and lightning: for in the greater part of their country, from the beginning of spring to the end of summer, rain falls heavily, and the thunder-storms are dreadful: “they placed their fingers in their ears at the horrible roar of the thunder-storms of Huzurilmoot, and the lightning was near to destroy their sight, whenever it flashed in their eyes.”* Chughtaie Khan preserved the peace of his districts, and the discipline of his army so well, that no necessity existed for guards on his highways or roads; and by the prudent management and the advice of Kurachar Noyaun, he always preserved the friendship of Ooktaie Khan, so that their brotherly love increased to a perfect unity of views and sentiments, and they passed their lives together in pleasure and gladness. From this concord their countries were well governed, and their power and authority firmly established. “When the kaan and khan were united, all disaffection and enmity fled; the blessing of this concord established both the kaan and khan.” It is said that Chughtaie Khan was fond of pleasure and hunting, and that most of his time was spent in these pursuits; and Ameer Kurachar Noyaun occupied himself with the affairs of state, and consulted the welfare of his people and ameers, in all matters, with great effect.
Among the extraordinary events of that period, is the rise of Mahmood Tarabi, who, in the beginning of the year 603, commenced a series of impostures in the town of Tarab, three fursungs from the city of Bokhara. This man assumed the appearance of great sanctity, by fasting and prayer, and pretended that angels or genii attended his orders, and were subject to his command. When this claim to distinction fell into the mouths of the multitude, all the sick and lame of the country surrounding, resorted to him for relief, and one or two of these persons who were cured by the mercy of God, and not by him, increased his fame to that degree, that multitudes of people from all countries repaired to him, and became his servants; his fame and authority, therefore, increased so much daily that the princes and ameers in that neighbourhood became afraid of him, and despatched an account of him to Khojund, and to Mahmood Beg, the son of the chief of Yulwaj, and they themselves, under the veil of devotion and friendship, visited the Shaikh Mahmood Tarabi, and humbly requested that he would sanctify the city of Bokhara by his presence, that the sick people thereof, by the blessing of his footsteps, might recover from their diseases and be restored to health. Under this pretence they persuaded him to leave Tarab, and proceed towards Bokhara, but with the intention to put him to death at a bridge on the road thither. Tarabi, however, by his penetration or the excellence of his intelligence, discovered their intentions, and when he arrived near the bridge, he said to the darogha who accompanied him, “Cast out thy foolish intention from thy brain, or thine eyes shall be torn from thy head without the intervention of the hands of man.” As the darogha and the ameers had kept their design in their own breasts, and had made it known to no one, they were much frightened at these words, and refrained from their purpose. The Shaikh Mahmood Tarabi, therefore, arrived in the city of Bokhara in safety, and alighted at a house, where the whole population resorted to him, so that it became impossible for any one to enter or quit his house; and as his friends would not leave him without his blessing, the shaikh, for the comfort and consolation of those without, now and then mounted the terrace of the house, and taking a little water in his mouth, squirted it over them, when all those who were sprinkled with it retired with great joy. The ameers and darogha, however much they desired to remove him out of the way, yet from the multitudes that surrounded him and his house could find no opportunity; when Shaikh Tarabi, however, became aware that the ameers intended to put him to death, he alone and secretly left the house, and mounting a horse that was standing at his door, fled to the tull or mount of Bahufuz, and having ascended that eminence, halted there. When it became known to the people of the city that the shaikh had disappeared, the multitude set up a loud cry that the shaikh had flown to the mount of Bahufuz at one flight, and the people, unable to contain themselves, all left the city and proceeded to join him. In the evening he harangued the multitude, and said, “Worthy people and true believers, why should we delay any longer to purify the world from the existence of these villains? (meaning the darogha and ameers); let every man provide himself with such arms (arrows, swords, bludgeons, &c.) as he can obtain, and fight valiantly to the utmost of his strength; let us not leave one of these traitors alive.” After this oration the people armed themselves, and carried the Shaikh back to the city of Bokhara, and the darogha and ameers all fled. The next day happened to be Friday, and the khotba was read in the name of Shaikh Mahmood Tarabi; the religious men and chief persons of Bokhara were also assembled, and some were killed, and some were beaten, and the shaikh having again wheedled and coaxed the mob, told them that “God had provided arms for them;” it happened that just at that time a karwan had arrived at Bokhara from Sheerauz, and had brought four khurwars, or loads, of swords for sale; this coincidence confirmed the people in their confidence in the supernatural agency of the Shaikh. He then ordered them to seize the tents and equipment of the ameers, and commenced his reign with all the pomp and circumstance of royalty; he also assembled an army, and the mob went to the houses of the rich and seized whatever they thought proper, and carried it to Shaikh Mahmood, who divided the spoil, thus taken, among his troops. The darogha and ameers, however, who had abandoned the city, soon collected a force from the Moghool tribes, and returned, and the shaikh with his troops and chiefs also lest the city to oppose them. When the two armies met and formed against each other a battle followed, but the Moghool troops alarmed at the fame of the shaikh’s miracles (which were all false), did not much exert themselves in the fight, until, by accident or directed by fate, an arrow struck the forehead of the hypocritical Shaikh Mahmood, and he fell mortally wounded and died immediately. None of his troops were, however, aware of his death; for at that time a terrible storm arose, and such clouds of dust and sand that the troops could not see each other, and the Moghools, attributing this to the miraculous powers of the shaikh, fled from the field of battle, the followers of the shaikh pursuing them; near ten thousand men were killed in this affray. After the victory, and when the troops of the shaikh returned from slaughter and plunder, to their astonishment they could discover no traces of the shaikh himself; they said, however, “Our shaikh has become invisible, as he formerly told us he would, and until he makes his re-appearance in the world let us appoint his brethren, Mahummud and Ali, governors in his place;” the whole of the multitude, therefore, made them their chiefs, and submitted to their orders. It is said that when this intelligence, forwarded by the ameers of Bokhara to Mahmood Beg, the son of Hajeb Yulwaj Bokhari, who resided at Khojund, reached that place, Mahmood Beg despatched the account of these events to Kurachar Noyaun, and by his orders, Eeldoor Noyaun and Chichun Koorchi with a large army were sent to reduce the rebels; and after seven days, during which the latter were employed in plundering the city and country, the Moghool army arrived at Bokhara. The brothers of Shaikh Torabi with their troops on this again quitted the city, and disposing themselves in array, engaged the Moghools with great courage. In the battle which followed, twenty-one thousand men were slain; the brothers of the shaikh were also killed, and the rest of their army dispersed; this disturbance, therefore, was quelled. The Moghool army, notwithstanding, desired much to plunder the people of Bokhara; however, God protected them, and the chiefs of Bokhara having made a valuable present to Ildoor Noyaun and Chichun Koorchi, entreated that they would put a stop to the ravage and murder committed by the Moghools until a reference was made to Kurachar Noyaun, and that then whatever might be his pleasure should be carried into effect. All the ameers agreed to this, and a yullaochee was sent with the reference, and the ameers and troops, in the hope that the answer would be conformable to the toreh, or custom of the Moghools, collected a tribute, and refrained from further plunder. When the reference was received by the Noyaun he instantly forgave the offences of the people of Bokhara, and forwarded in answer a firman of Chughtaie Khan, directing the Moghool troops to return and abstain from all plunder and injury of the inhabitants of Bokhara; thus, from the protection and aid of this brave and worthy Noyaun, the people of Bokhara and its environs were saved from the rebellion of the Torabians, and also from the slaughter and ravages of the Moghools.
When the period of the life of Chughtaie Khan approached, he confided the execution of his will and the care of his children to Kurachar Noyaun, and, it is said, died in the month of Zikad 630 Hejri, seven months previous to the death of Ooktaie Khan. After his death thirty kings of his children or relations reigned in the territory of Tooraun. Chughtaie Khan had eleven sons; of these, ten were living at the time of his death; the son who died previously was named Baikun, and those living were Yusoo Munga, Munookan, Baidar, Sarian, Toolkan, Bozi, Boolkan, Noori, Kamkar, and Tokzar Khan.
The second khan was Kara Hulako Khan,* the son of Baikun, the son of Chughtaie Khan.
In some histories it is written that, on the death of Chughtaie Khan, Kurachar Noyaun exerted himself so effectually in the arrangement of the affairs of the kingdom of Tooraun, and in providing for the welfare both of the peasantry and the soldiery, that nothing equal to his management existed either before or since (verses): “He was liberal, and such a lover of strict justice, that no one oppressed others without the severest punishment: except the ringlets of the ladies all was at rest, and no uneasiness or disturbance arose, except those caused by the eyes of beauty.”*
Some years after the death of Chughtaie Khan, Kurachar Noyaun, for political purposes, raised to the throne Kara Hulako Khan, the son of Baikun, the son of Chughtaie Khan. After Kara Hulako had reigned some time, and his fame had spread to all quarters, at the instigation of Kyook Khan, the son of Ooktaie Khan, who represented that a grandson could not with propriety be preferred to a son, and that agreeably to the custom of the world an uncle stood in the place of a father, Kurachar Noyaun deposed Kara Hulako Khan, and in the year 643 Hejri placed Yussoo Munga Khan, the son of Chughtaie Khan, on the throne. After some years, however, Yussoo Munga Khan died, and Kurachur Noyaun again raised to the throne, in his stead, Kara Hulako.