The march of Chungeez Khan towards Iran, to revenge the murder of his Ambassadors.
It is related in different histories, that when Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah conquered Mawurunneher, the roads between Iran and Tooran were well guarded and safe; insomuch that it is stated as an example, if an old woman were to carry a dish full of gold all over the country, there were none hardy enough to molest her. As there were no cities in Moghoolistan where wearing apparel or cloths were made, the merchants of Khorazm Shah’s country carried these articles to Chungeez Khan’s camp, and obtained thereby great profit. On one occasion several merchants carried property to a large amount to Chungeez Khan’s camp; and he sent for the chief of them, and inquired the prices of the articles they had brought. It happened that they fixed a price greatly exceeding the value of the goods; and Chungeez Khan, angry at their dishonesty, inquired of them if they supposed he had never seen such articles before, and ordered his treasurer to bring cloths of the same kind, and show them to the merchants. He next directed a list of the articles to be taken, and afterwards that the goods should be plundered and the merchants imprisoned. Among the merchants was a man named Amud Khojundi; this man presented himself to Chungeez Khan, and, in order to soothe him, represented that they did not bring these goods for sale, but to make them a present to him. This pleased Chungeez Khan, who then paid them the value of the goods, as estimated by himself; (that is, for a silk garment he gave a balish of gold; and for two garments of cotton, called vuzund paichi, a balish of silver;— a balish is five hundred miscals;) and treated them with kindness and attention, providing them with tents and provisions, until they departed, when he made them presents, and desired Kurachar Noyan and his sons to send some honest Mussulmans with these merchants with articles of value, that they might trade and bring in return such goods as they required from Iran.* It is said five hundred Mussulman merchants, with musk and property of great value, accompanied these merchants to Iran. Three ambassadors also accompanied them with a letter from Chungeez Khan to the king of Khorezm, stating that merchants from Iran had arrived in his camp, that he had treated them well, and that he had also in return sent merchants to Iran for the sale and purchase of goods; that he considered the king of Khorezm as his son; that, as the Almighty had divided the world between them, they ought to endeavour to do good by promoting friendly intercourse and commerce between nations, and assist each other in all good works, that they might deserve the praise and gratitude of mankind. These three ambassadors (whose names were, 1st. Mahummud Khorazm; 2d. Omar; and, 3d. Yousuf), and the merchants, when they arrived at Otrar, visited Oinal Jowk, the governor there on the part of Khorazm Shah, who was entitled Ghair Khan from his relationship with Toorkan Khatoon, the mother of Khorazm Shah.
It happened that one of Chungeez Khan’s-merchants, a man from Hindostan, knew him in former times, but, on this occasion, unfortunately omitted his title, and inadvertently called him Oinal Jowk. This gave him such offence, that he imprisoned the merchants and confiscated their property.
Among the acts of oppression committed by Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah, was the murder of Shaikh Nujm-ud-deen Baghdadi, whom the sultan, one night when intoxicated, on pretence that he was too intimate with Sultana Khatoon, the mother of the sultan, ordered to be executed. He, however, the next day repented of his fault, and gave many presents of gold and jewels to the durveish of the khanka* of Shaikh Nujm-ud-deen, that they might intercede with God to obtain pardon for his crime. The religious men, however, replied, that gold and silver could not pay the price of the shaikh’s blood, and that the equivalent must be the head of that man who caused his death (meaning the sultan) and those of many thousands besides.
The kingdom of Mawurunneher to the river Fusakut, and Otrar, having devolved to Sultan Mahummud in the year 613, differences arose between him and the Khalif Ameer-el-Momenin Nasir Billah, from several causes, and among the rest, because the khalif had given precedence to the flag of the heretic, Hussun Mulhud, before that of the sultan, in a pilgrimage to Hejaz, and because the khalif had secretly endeavoured to excite the Ghoorians to attack Khorezm. Khorazm Shah, therefore, being much distressed at this, procured a futwa from the learned of his kingdom, that while any of the sons of Fatima were in existence it was not lawful for the khilafat to descend to the sons of Abbas; and, moreover, alleging as a crime that they, the sons of Abbas, had followed the customs and mode of life of the kings of Persia. Having selected these pretences, the sultan ordered the name of the khalif to be omitted in the khotbeh or prayers, and appointed a Syud, named Ala’l Moolk Turmuzi, khalif, and then marched with an army to dispossess the Abbassides of the khilasat. When he arrived at Damghan he received news that Atabeg Saud had left Sheeraz to attack the province of Irak. The sultan on this marched towards him, and, on their meeting, a battle was fought, and Atabeg was defeated and taken prisoner. The sultan intended to put him to death; but Atabeg was saved by Mullik Nozun, on condition that he should send a large proportion of the revenue of Fars to the sultan’s treasury, and deliver up the forts of Istakhar and Ashkunoon: the son of Atabeg, Aboobukar, was also placed in confinement in the castle of Ashkunoon, and this agreement was fulfilled.
When the sultan marched from Rai to Hamudan, Atabeg Oozbuk, who had advanced from Tabriz to invade Irak, fled. The sultan, however, refused to allow his troops to follow him, saying that the capture of two kings in one year was an unlucky omen, and that he must be allowed to escape: the Oozbuk, therefore, escaped to Azurbijan. The sultan then marched from Hamudan to Asturabad; but his troops suffered greatly from frost and snow on the mountains on that road, and most of his horses died. and he was in consequence obliged to return to Hamudan. His military character was much injured by this, and his expedition to the Darul khilafut also was unfortunate. At this time messengers arrived from Oinal Jowk, to state that a number of persons with great wealth had arrived from the camp of Chungeez Khan, and that they were proceeding to Iran, apparently with a design to examine and report on the state of that country.
The sultan on hearing this, seduced by the hope of securing their wealth, and without making any inquiry into the circumstances of the case, gave orders that they should all (including the ambassadors of Chungeez Khan) be put to death; and this order was executed by Oinal Jowk, who took possession of their property. [Verses.] “For every drop of blood shed by this barbarous order, a river of blood flowed; and for every hair on the heads of the victims of this treacherous act, thousands of heads were piled up in revenge. For every grain of silver obtained by this unholy deed, heaps of gold were scattered and wasted.”
It happened that, previously, one of the merchants had escaped; and as soon as he heard of the murder of his companions, he returned to the camp of Chungeez Khan, and detailed to him the circumstances as they had occurred. Chungeez Khan, on hearing of the faithless reception, and cruel murder, of his vukeels and merchants, was nearly mad with grief and anger. He refused to eat or take rest, and went out alone to a hill near his camp, where he took off his cap, loosed his waist, and threw himself on the ground, humbling himself in grief before the Almighty (Tunkri). He remained in this state three days and three nights, when the inhabitants of Jubroot (a rank in heaven) lifted up the palms of their hands to say amen; and, it is said, he heard a voice from heaven, saying, he might be certain he would be allowed ample revenge, and that he should severely punish Mahummud Shah and his adherents for this barbarous act. Chungeez Khan, after this illumination, became more tranquil, and returned to his camp. He then gave orders to assemble his army, and despatched his towachees in all directions to collect his troops; he also deputed an eelchee* to Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah, to inform him that he might now reap that he had sowed, and that he (Mahummud Shah) should prepare to receive him, as he was about to pay him a visit. Chungeez Khan, however, with the caution of his character, before he marched to Iran, determined to quell all disturbances or rebellions in his own country. He accordingly despatched a body of troops, under Jubeh Noyan, to reduce Koshluk Khan, the son of Tabang Khan, chief of the Naimans, and Tokbughan, the son of Tokta Begi, king of the Mukreet tribe.
Koshluk Khan, during his reign over Khotun and Kashghur, had committed every species of violence and oppression; but his chief aim was to root out the Mussulman religion from those countries. Jubeh Noyan, in obedience to the orders of Chungeez, first marched with a large army to Kashghur; and Koshluk Khan, on hearing of his approach, fled to Budukshan. When Noyan arrived at Kashghur, he immediately issued a proclamation, granting the free exercise of religion to people of every persuasion; but he put to death all he found of the Naiman tribe the servants of Koshluk Khan, and ordered out troops in every direction to pursue him. Koshluk Khan sought refuge in the hill country of Budukshan; where he hid himself in the deep recesses of the mountains, from which he could not escape; and the Moghools having demanded him from the hunters of that country, he was there seized, with his followers, and delivered up to the Moghools, who put him to death. The people of Budukshan also plundered all his jewels and treasure. The country of Khotun to Kashghur, and the river Fusakut or Sihoon, thus fell into the possession of Chungeez Khan. To oppose Tokbughan, the son of Tokta Begi, king of the Mukreet, who had separated from Koshluk Khan when he obtained possession of Kashghur and Khotun, and had proceeded to the Kham Kuchuk, Joje Ooglan, the son of Chungeez, was sent with a large force.
When the ambassadors of Chungeez Khan reached Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah, and he was apprized of the approach of Chungeez Khan, he left his son, Rokn-ud-deen in Irak, and Imadul Moolk to assist him in the collection of the revenue, &c., and marched towards Mawurunneher. At Nishapoor the sultan halted a month, and next proceeded to Bokhara, where he staid from the 8th of Shaban to the 10th Shawal. This time (it being the spring season) he spent in drinking and debauchery. He next assembled all the troops he could collect of that and the neighbouring quarters, and proceeded to Samurkund, which he desired to make his capital.
At the time Sultan Osman rebelled against Goor Khan, and offered his submission to Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah, in whose name he read the khotbeh, and struck money; the sultan gave him his daughter, Khan Sooltan, to wife. After that period, however, Sultan Osman rebelled, and was put to death by Sultan Mahummud, who then made Samurkund his capital, and built a Jama musjid there. Sultan Mahummud, on his arrival at Samurkund, gave himself up to idleness and debauchery. At this time, news arrived of the movement of Tokbughan Mukreet, and he was induced by this intelligence to proceed to Jund. When he arrived at Jund, he was informed that Joje, with a great force, was in pursuit of Tokbughan; and he therefore returned to Samurkund, where he colleeted the remainder of his troops, and again advanced to Jund, and from that towards Joje. When he arrived in the country between the two rivers Koobli and Kombeh, he fell in with a great number of dead bodies, and streams of blood freshly shed; and after some search a wounded man was found, who told him that the troops of Joje Ooghlan and those of Tokbughan, the son of Tokta Begi the Mukreet, had fought a battle there, and that the latter had been defeated. The sultan immediately pursued the army of Joje, and the next day fell in with him, and they prepared for battle. The troops of Chungeez Khan, however, declined to fight, stating that they were employed on a particular service, and were not authorized to offer any violence to Khorazm Shah. However, when they saw the sultan determined to attack them, they were obliged to form up to oppose him.
The troops of the Moghools on this occasion were not very numerous, they however were choice men, and in the first charge they nearly made the sultan a prisoner; but Julal-ud-deen, the son of Sultan Mahummud, seeing that they had beat the main body of his troops, made a desperate charge, and maintained the fight, with his division, with great constancy and vigour until night. At night, the Moghools retired towards the camp of Chungeez Khan, and on their arrival there, they detailed the conduct of Khorazm Shah towards them, and Chungeez Khan, burning with rage, immediately ordered his army to assemble.
The commencement of the war between Chungeez Khan and Khorazm Shah.
Khorazm Shah must have been aware a storm was impending, but when he heard of the approach of Chungeez Khan, and recollected the bravery of a handful of Moghool troops in their battle with him, he became greatly alarmed, and retired to Samurkund; the astrologers, also, told him that the signs of the heavens were so unfavourable, that he should for the present avoid every attempt to oppose his enemies, and this still more increased his anxiety.
It is related, that at that time Sultan Mahummud had an army at his command of 400,000 men of all arms; however, after the advance of the Moghools, he despatched Kurachi with ten thousand men to Otrar, to assist Ghair Khan; and he assigned thirty thousand men to the defence of Bokhara. He also left one hundred and ten thousand men to protect Samurkund. Among these troops were sixty thousand Turks, who were commanded by the bravest chiefs in the country; and fifty thousand were Tachiks, each of them a Rustum in valour; he also appointed thirty thousand men to the defence of his different forts and castles. They also attempted to fill the ditch at Samurkund with water; but the sultan, on seeing it the next day, said, “If the troops that pursue me were each to throw his whip into it, they would fill it.” Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah now moved to Nuksheb, and wherever he went he left instructions with the people to seek their safety in flight; and he also despatched his servants to Khorezm, to forward his mother, Turkan Khatoon, his wives and children, with his treasure, to Mazinderan. When his mother received this order, she left the guards belonging to the sultan’s children, and a body of troops under the command of their chiefs, to defend Khorezm, and with the rest, and the wives and children of the sultan, proceeded to Mazinderan. The sultan now also consulted with his ministers how he should oppose Chungeez Khan. The most experienced of these were of opinion that nothing could save Mawurunneher, but that measures should be immediately taken to preserve Khorasan and Irak; that every man the sultan had detached to defend his cities should be summoned, and the whole encamped on the banks of the Jihoon, that the Moghool army might be prevented from crossing the fords of that river. Some, however, were of opinion that it would be best to march towards Ghizni and Hindoostan. The sultan approved of the latter counsel, and moved towards Balkh. At this time the son of Sultan Mahummud, Sultan Rokn-ud-deen, who was in Irak, despatched Imad-ul-Moolk to his father with presents. Imad was a great favourite with the sultan, and from the love of his country, recommended that as the Moghools had taken possession of the country they then occupied, it was best the sultan should proceed towards Irak, where they might collect their forces, and then return. Sultan Julal-ud-deen, who was with his father, condemned this advice, and said, “if the sultan be determined to proceed to Irak, it is better policy that he should give me charge of a force, that I may go and seize the fords of the river Jihoon, to the end that if the Moghools obtain possession of the opposite bank, we may preserve this side.” Sultan Mahummud, however, was so confounded at the invasion of the Moghools, that he paid no attention to the advice of his son, and replied, that he had determined not to attempt any decisive movement for the present; and following the advice of Imad-ul-Moolk, marched from Balkh towards Irak. He also sent messengers to the Punjab, to give intelligence of the events which had occurred. At this time news arrived that the Moghools had taken Bokhara, and the sultan now gave himself and his kingdom up as lost. The chief part of his troops at this time were Toorkmans, of the tribe and family of his mother: these were called Kufkulians and Ooranians, and, in these circumstances, these men attempted the life of Khorazm Shah. The cause of this villainy was, that in the court of Sultan Mahummud, a certain Budruddeen had become disaffected, and deserted to Chungeez Khan; he had also written friendly letters to Chungeez Khan, who sent him answers in the same strain, which fell into the hands of one of the confidential servants of Khorazm Shah, and he the shah, in consequence, became suspicious of all his ameers; the ameers also in turn became apprehensive of him, and determined to assassinate him, and an attempt was made one night as above stated; but the sultan having changed his sleeping apartment, it failed. The Toorkmans, &c. concerned in this attempt, all fled to Chungeez Khan, and Sultan Mahummud became doubtful even of the fidelity of those ameers who remained with him; he therefore despatched them to different stations, and retired to Nishapoor, where he arrived on the 12th Suffur 617 Hejri, or Yullan Eel Toorki; and again, from folly or despair, gave himself up to debauchery.
The advance of Chungeez Khan to Iran.
It is related in the best histories extant, that Chungeez Khan marched with a well-appointed army towards Iran, in the year 615 Hejri (Tooshkan Eel Toorki). On the route many chiefs with their followers joined him, as Arslan Khan, the chief of the Kurligh tribe, from Kialigh; also Yadakoot the chief of the tribe of Eikoor, from Paish Baligh; also Shuknak Tageen, with his tribe, from Almaligh. The Kirghiz or Kirkiz, however, refused to join him, and Joje was therefore sent to coerce them. Joje marched with a considerable force, and as the rivers were all frozen over, he easily crossed them, and entirely subdued their country, and then returned to his father. As Chungeez Khan advanced he despatched ambassadors to Sultan Mahummud, to apprize him he was coming to take satisfaction for the murder of his honest unoffending merchants and ambassadors. Chungeez Khan, about this period, despatched Ooktai Khan, and Choghtai Khan, with a great force, to attack Ghair Khan at Otrar. These ameers and their troops swam their horses across the river Sihoon, and encamped before that town. When Ghair Khan and Kurachi Saheb, the chiefs in authority there, saw the extent of the camp of the besieging army, they gave up all hopes of success; they, however, prepared to defend the city. At this time, also, Chungeez Khan despatched Joje, and Yadakoot the chief of the Oighoor tribe, to Jund; and Alak Noyan, Sungtoor, and Bookaee, with five thousand horse, to Fusakut; Chungeez Khan, with Tooli and the rest of his army, marched to Bokhara, which city is called also Koobbut-ul-Islam.
It is said that the name of this city (Bokhara) is derived from the word Bokhar, which, in the language of the Mughs or Parsees, signifies a school or university, and the idolaters of Oighoor and Khatai call their temples Bokhar. When Chungeez arrived at Zurnook, the people of that town came out to meet him, and their lives and fortunes were spared. The people of Noor also submitted, and paid the tribute demanded, and they also were spared. Chungeez Khan altered the name of the town of Zurnook to Kutlugh Baligh, which signifies the fortunate city. He selected the young men of this town and took them on to Bokhara, where he arrived in the year 617 Hejri (or Yellan Eel Toorki), and encamped before the city. Kyook Khan, Hameed, Sooneh Khan, and Lushkur Khan, the chiefs who commanded in the city, with thirty thousand men, that night made an attack on the Moghools: but their picquets being aware of the sortie, the besieged were defeated and many slain, and in the morning, as the people of the city from the bad success of their night attack became dispirited, all the chief inhabitants and the learned came out to make peace with Chungeez Khan, and to obtain, by their submission, the safety of the people. Chungeez Khan also now entered the city to inspect it; when he arrived at the musjidi jama, or great mosque, seeing its size and grandeur, he entered it, and asked if this was the palace of the king? the people said, no;—he then asked whose it was? and they told him, the house of the Creator of the Universe. Chungeez Khan, on hearing this, immediately dismounted from his horse and went to the second step of the pulpit, where he sat down. He then addressed his men and told them there was no grass procurable in the fields, and he therefore desired them to empty the chests of books in the mosque, and fill them with barley and feed their horses in them, which they did, and gave their caps to the learned men who accompanied them, to hold; they then sat down and began to sing Moghool songs. After some time Chungeez Khan departed from the mosque to the Eedgah, where he sat down in the pulpit, and ordered that the people of the town should be assembled; he then told them that the displeasure of God had sent him among them to punish their wickedness; and an interpreter, being present, translated what Chungeez Khan said in the Moghool language, into the Persian language. After he had addressed them in this strain some time, he said, “What is shewn in the city requires no discussion; I want to know and possess what is concealed.” The merchants and rich men on this, comprehending his object, consulted and agreed to pay ransom for their lives; a condition was, however, annexed, that they should not conceal any of Khorazm Shah’s people amongst them, but that they should be driven out of the city. It is related that, notwithstanding this condition, and that Chungeez Khan gave his yurligh, or orders, that the troops of Khorazm Shah should be expelled the city, and if any were harboured the inhabitants should be put to death; yet the people of the city concealed many of them in their houses. Some Tachiks of Bokhara, however, from malice disclosed this to Chungeez Khan, and orders were issued by him, in consequence, for a general massacre, and the whole of the inhabitants were murdered in cold blood—even animals were included in the general slaughter. The Moghools after this burned the town, and filled up the ditch of the castle, which they also took and set on fire,—after putting Kyook Khan and the whole of the garrison to the sword.*
The siege of Otrar.
It has been before related, that Ooghtaie Khan and Chogtaie Khan had been ordered to attack Otrar, and that they had encamped before that place; they consequently attacked the town vigorously: but the garrison resisted five months, until it was reduced to great extremities. Kurachi, one of the officers of the garrison, at this time became desirous to surrender, but Ghair Khan, alias Oinul Jowk, remained stedfast in his faith to Khorazm Shah. One night, however, Kurachi secretly left the town by the Soofi-khaneh gate, with his troops, and surrendered to the Moghools; and the same night the Moghool troops entered by the gate he had quitted, and took the town; they, nevertheless, the next morning murdered Kurachi and all his men in cold blood; pretending that, after resistance, they could not receive them as prisoners; they then drove the whole of the inhabitants of Otrar into the fields, and murdered every soul of them.
Ghair Khan, however, with twenty thousand* men, still remained in the castle, which he defended with great spirit for a month, after which it was also taken and razed to the ground. The Moghools, however, spared some of the people who had sought refuge in it, they being good workmen at different trades. At that time Chungeez Khan had arrived at Samurkund. Ghair Khan was carried prisoner in chains to Kook Serai, and was executed there.
Joje Khan, as has been related, was sent with a force to Jund. When he arrived at Sakbak, Hussen Joje, an inhabitant of that city, was sent as an ambassador to demand the submission of the inhabitants; but they, being proud and insolent, killed him. When Joje Khan heard of this, he was greatly enraged, and immediately marched towards the city, which in two days he took, and destroyed most of the inhabitants; and having placed the son of Hussen Joje there as governor, he marched to Yoozkund, which city and Ooshnash were both taken by him.
When ameer Khutluk, the chief of Jund, heard of these events, he became so alarmed that he abandoned his city, and fled by the desert to Khorazm. Joje Khan on this despatched Jymoor in authority to Jund, that he might reduce the people to obedience. When Jymoor arrived at Jund, as there was no chief there at that time to restrain the people of the town, they made an assault on him to kill him. Jymoor, by fair words and professions, however, got clear of them, and returned to Joje Khan, to describe his reception; Joje, on hearing it, marched to Jund, and took the city by escalade without opposition. It is worthy remark, that none of the people were killed except those who insulted Jymoor; the city was, however, plundered for fourteen days, during which the inhabitants were expelled—it was also razed to the ground. Ali Khwaja, who was the Ghujdowan* of Bokhara, was appointed governor. A force was next despatched to take possession of Yarcheen, and darogahs having been appointed to both these cities, Joje returned to join his father.
Of the Expedition of Alak Noyaun to Fusakut and Khojund.
As has been before mentioned, Alak Noyaun was ordered to proceed to Khojund and Fusakut, and when he arrived at the latter place, he found that the chief Aneeko Mullik, with a large force, had entered the town from Kultean, and was prepared to defend it,—the attack and defence, however, only lasted three days, for on the fourth the garrison asked for quarter; they were, however, with the inhabitants, their wives and children, taken out of the city and murdered, as usual, by the villainous Moghools, in cold blood: and after the plunder of the city the Moghools marched to Khojund. Mullik Timoor, who was famous for his bravery, was at that time chief of Khojund; he had built a fort in the river of Khojund, or Sihoon, where two branches of the river met, and this fort was garrisoned by one thousand chosen and trusty men; he also took his station in it, well prepared for the siege. As the engines of the Moghools did not reach the fort, the young men of Khojund were carried thither as artisans, and the Moghools called for aid from all the countries they had subdued, until fifty thousand workmen of their dependants and twenty thousand Moghools were assembled. The former were divided into tens and hundreds, and one Moghool was allotted to eighteen Tachiks; the Tachiks were employed in filling the river with earth. Mullik Timoor had made twelve decked boats, which were covered with wet blankets and a composition of earth and vinegar, to prevent their being injured by fire or arrows. These boats were every morning despatched, six on one side and six on the other, and having ports or windows, did great service during the siege; when, however, the garrison became distressed for provisions, he prepared eighty boats of the same kind for their escape, and leaving all their property, their wives and children, in the fort, they embarked, and sailed down the river; the Moghool army following and attacking them from the banks. When the boats arrived at Fusakut they found a chain had been laid across the river, to prevent their passing; they, however, broke it on the first onset, and after passing Fusakut, landed at the first convenient place to retire to the desert, —the Moghools, however, still followed them, but were kept at bay by Mullik Timoor; but, after some days’ pursuit, the greater part of Mullik Timoor’s men were killed and wounded, and all their baggage taken; the Moghools still pursuing him, and his few followers at length being all killed or taken, he alone remained, with no other means of defence than three arrows. In this plight, he was attacked by three Moghools, one of whom he blinded with one of his arrows, and the two others having seen many examples of his bravery and strength, and being apprehensive of the same fate, at length quitted him and returned. Mullik Timoor after this went to Khorezm, and having collected a force returned to Kusb, near which place he joined Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah, and told him it was absurd to oppose the Moghools, as their numbers and courage precluded all chance of success; this still more increased the fears and apprehensions of the sultan.
When Alak Noyaun had conquered Khojund, he returned to join Chungeez Khan, and arrived in his camp after the destruction of Samurkund.
Chungeez Khan, hearing of the beauty, population, and strength of the city of Samurkund, and of the numerous garrison that defended it, immediately marched to subdue Mawurunneher, with a multitude of workmen from Bokhara and its vicinity; he, however, left detachments of troops to besiege the forts of Duboos and Siripul. Chungeez Khan, on his arrival at Samurkund, encamped at the Kodik Seraie, and spent two days in reconnoitring the walls of the city. On the third, however, the chiefs of the city, Imtiaz Khan, Shaikh Khan, Bula Khan, Alut Jan, &c. with a large force made a sortie, and a battle ensued, in which the troops of Mahummud Khorazm Shah displayed the greatest gallantry and devotion. The killed were numerous on both sides, but a number of Moghools were taken prisoners and carried into the city.
The next day Chungeez Khan ordered his troops to occupy the gates and ditch of the town, so as to prevent the horse from making another sortie. That day the fight was maintained from the walls with great spirit, but the garrison became alarmed at the execution done by the engines of the Moghools, and they in consequence divided into two factions, one of which was for surrendering, and the other for defending the city.
At night, therefore, the religious men of the city assembled, and went out to make terms with Chungeez Khan, who received them with kindness, and gave them hopes of his favour, and permission to return to the city. Peace being in a manner made, at the time of prayers the gate of the Nimaz Gah, or place of prayer, was opened, and the Moghools allowed to enter, and they plundered the city all that day and night without intermission, and drove the whole of the inhabitants, men, women, and children, with the exception of the families of the religious men above-mentioned, into the fields, and then sacked the city, and killed all those persons they found concealed in it; the lives of the rest, amounting to more than fifty thousand, were spared. The garrison of the citadel still, however, remained untouched, and the next morning Aluti Jan, one of the chiefs of Sultan Mahummud, made a sortie with one thousand men, and attacked the Moghools, and gallantly fighting his way through the whole of the Moghool army, made his way to the sultan. The next day the Moghools attacked the citadel of Samurkund, and between the hours of prayer took it, and put to the sword the whole of the garrison, with the chiefs of the army of Khorazm Shah, many of whom were Turks of the Kunkuli tribe; as Bursumas Khan, Toghaie Khan, Alaj Khan, &c. Of the inhabitants, about thirty thousand artificers were selected by the Moghools as slaves, and for the rest, 200,000 dinars were exacted as the price of their heads. This took place in the year Hejri 617, or Yeelan Eel Toorki.
While Chungeez Khan was besieging Samurkund he heard that Sultan Mahummud had crossed the Jihoon at the Turmuz ford, and that he had detached most of his army to guard his forts and passes.* Chungeez Khan immediately assembled his officers, and proposed to them that the sultan should be attacked whilst his army was weak, and before he could receive any accession to his force. It was accordingly settled at this consultation that three commanders of Tomans, Jubeh Noyaun, Sowidai Bahadoor, and Tokchar Noyaun, with thirty thousand Moghools, should proceed to attack the sultan, and that they should take no rest until they had secured him, after which they were to return home by the route of Kupchak:* (this occurred in the year 617). And, to carry this plan into effect, these three accursed infidels marched, and destroyed every city they approached, with its inhabitants, and they also ravaged the countries they passed through so effectually, that no vestige of the population remained. In this way they passed the Jihoon to Balkh, and through the countries of Khorasan, Irak, Azurbijan, and Sheerwan; and then, returning by Durbund and the desert of Kupchak, they entered their own yourut (country), and rejoined the camp of Chungeez Khan. Their yourish (expedition) in detail is as follows: they marched first to Balkh and then to Herat, where the chief, Mullik Babuli, despatched an ambassador to them, and for this reason he was not molested. They then continued their pursuit of Khorazm Shah, and when their advance reached him, Tokchar Noyaun attacked his rearguard, and, although the sultan took care to inform him he agreed to be subject and obedient to Chungeez Khan, he affected not to hear or understand him; the sultan, therefore, was obliged to prepare for battle. In the engagement which followed, Tokchur Noyaun was killed, and his troops retreated, and joined the other two ameers who were following in the rear. At the same time Jubeh Noyaun and Sowidai Bahadoor arrived at Zaweh, the inhabitants of which place shut their gates on them; but, as the Moghools were seeking Sultan Mahummud, they did not pay any attention to Zaweh, and passed on. The people of Zaweh, however, from extreme folly, no sooner saw them pass, than they threw their gates open, beat their nagaras (kettle-drums), and followed the Moghools, abusing and reviling them. This was too much to be borne, and the chiefs of the Moghools returned, and after a siege of three days took the town, and destroyed every living creature in it. The Moghools next marched towards Nishapoor, and it is remarkable, the author says, that they never appeared to halt, but their cavalry continued always rolling on like the waves of the sea.
When Sultan Mahummud heard that the Moghools had arrived near Nishapoor, and that they did not molest any other chief, but continued solely occupied in pursuit of him, he was so struck with fear, that he now thought only of concealing himself; he accordingly sent his women to the fort of Kuroon, and sought a place of strength to retire to himself; while he was consulting, however, what he should do, the clouds of dust raised by the Moghool horse appeared near Nishapoor, and the sultan immediately fled towards Khorasan, leaving Fukhr-ul-Moolk, Abool Mali, Katib, Jami, Zeaul Moolk, &c. to defend Nishapoor. When the sultan arrived at Rai, he hearing the Moghools were in his vicinity, repented him of his journey to Irak and retired to Kazvin. His son, Sultan Zien-ud-deen, with thirty thousand men of the troops of Irak, was encamped at Kazvin, and when he heard of the approach of his father joined him, and the same day the sultan despatched his son, Sultan Giaus-ud-deen, with his mother and women, to the duj or fort of Kuroon, and to the care of Taj-ud-deen Toghan; he also sent a messenger to Nussrud-deen Huzaurusp, who was a dependent of the former kings of Khorezm.
When Jubeh Noyaun and Sowidai Bahadoor arrived at Nishapoor, they seized every one they met and put him to the torture, to compel him to declare where Sultan Mahummud was. At this time the ambassador of Mujdul Moolk Kafi, Fureed-ud-deen, and Zeaul Moolk Rowzuni, the chief persons of Khorasan, arrived; they requested that an ambassador might be sent to them by Chungeez Khan, and despatched three persons in charge of presents, tendering their submission. Mujdul Moolk also sent a message that he was an old man and of no value, and that if they conquered the sultan he would be their slave. Noyaun, in reply, wrote to them a letter in the Oighoor character, stating that God had given Chungeez Khan the country from the east to the west; that whoever opposed him would be destroyed, and whoever obeyed him would be exalted: he then took kulavuz or tribute, and departed towards Irak in pursuit of Khorazm Shah. Jubeh proceeded to Mazindaran, and Sowidai to Toos, both destroying all who opposed them, particularly at Amul, where all the inhabitants were massacred.
Jubeh Noyaun now moved to the fort of Ellal, in which were the mother and wives of Khorazm Shah, where he was joined by many of their troops, and on the road destroyed the city of Rai, murdering all the inhabitants thereof, men, women, and children.
During this period Sultan Mahummud was seeking an asylum; and Mullik Nusr-ud-deen Huzarusp arrived from Kurdistan, and was received with great distinction. On being asked his advice in these difficulties, he recommended Sultan Mahummud to retire to a hill-fort between Loor and Pars,* called Boong, or Sook, where he said he could raise one hundred thousand foot, if necessary, to defend the passes and oppose the Moghools. Sultan Mahummud, however, saw that his object in this advice, was merely to reduce or keep in check the Atabeg of Pars; the sultan, therefore, moved to Kazvin, where he heard of the capture of Rai, by Noyaun. The sultan, with sorrow, now retired towards the fort of Kuroon Duj, but on the road most of his troops deserted him; the Toorkmans also met and attacked him and wounded his horse, but when they recognized him they allowed him to pass on with his followers.
The sultan on his route passed by Kuroon Duj; he, however, did not halt there, but pursued his way to Gélan. The Moghools, who pursued him on their arrival at Kuroon Duj, halted and immediately besieged it; but hearing the sultan was not there, they left a party to continue the siege, and one division moved off in pursuit of him. The sultan, on his arrival at Gélan, only halted there seven days; the chief of Gélan, Tolghook, however, pressed him to stay, but he was too much afraid of the Moghools to remain, and fled to Asterabad. On his arrival at Asterabad he lost all his treasure, but still continuing his route, he marched to a fort depending on Amal, and thence proceeded to the Caspian Sea, and secreted himself in one of the islands of Tusloon; but the place of his abode becoming known, he moved to the island of Abgoon. About the time of his departure a body of Moghools sent by Jubeh Noyaun from Rai, arrived to search for him, but as they did not find him they returned to Kuroon Duj, in which castle were some of the wives and children of Sultan Mahummud. The garrison of this fort defended it well, and not a few Moghools fell before the place; at last, however, it was taken by assault, and levelled with the ground, and the treasure, wives and children, of Mahummud Shah in it, fell into the hands of the Moghools.—[The manuscript is defective here two or three lines.]—The Moghools next proceeded to besiege the fort of Eelal, which contained all the remainder of the wives of Sultan Mahummud, and, by the command of the Almighty Avenger of blood, as long as Turkan Khatoon (the mother of Sultan Mahummud) remained in the fort no rain fell, a circumstance which had never happened before;—the castle being provided with a number of reservoirs, which in other times were always full,—the water, however, now failed, and Nasir-ud-deen, the wuzeer, and Tur Khan Khatoon were obliged to descend and surrender themselves and their wealth to the Moghools.* The treasure taken in gold and jewels is said to have been immense. The whole of the prisoners were sent to Chungeez Khan, who, on their arrival at Samurkund, ordered that the wuzeer Nasir-ud-deen and all the male children of Sultan Mahummud, however young, should be put to death.
The unfortunate Sultan Mahummud, when he heard of the capture of his mother, wives, and children, was so smitten with grief that he became distracted, and his heart bursting with anguish, he died:—Koran, “we belong to God, and to God we must return.” It is related that the few servants who remained with the poor king were unable to procure a cloth to bury him in, and they therefore interred him in the clothes he had on when he died. This event occurred in 617 Hejri, at the island of Abgoon. Sultan Mahummud reigned twenty-one years, by the account of the author of the Tarikhi Gozeedeh.
Sultan Mahummud had seven sons; of these, sultans Julal-ud-deen, Ghiaus-ud-deen, and Rokn-ud-deen, are the most celebrated by historians.
When Chungeez Khan had taken Samurkund, and reduced the whole of Mawurunneher, he despatched his sons, Joje, Chughtaie, and Ooktaie to root out of Khorezm all the connexions and servants of Sultan Mahummud. These princes, with an immense army, accordingly took the road to Bokhara, and thence to Khorezm. Khorezm was at that time under charge of Khumurtgeen, one of the relations of Sultan Mahummud’s mother. The original name of Khorezm is Jurjania; but the people of that part call it Orgunj. It is related that, at the time that Kurmutgeen was chief of Khorezm, several other chiefs of Sultan Mahummud’s were also there; as Kankuli Hajib, Pehlwan Ali, &c. The nobles and learned of the city were also very numerous, and the inhabitants without number. It happened, however, that none of the princes were there, that they might take the conduct of affairs on them; and the people, therefore, gave the name of sultan to Khumurtgeen. He and they were, however, very remiss in their preparations to oppose the Moghools; for before they were completed, of a sudden, a party of horse appeared at the gate of the city, and began to drive off the cattle. The people foolishly supposed these were the whole of the Moghool force, not thinking of the army which followed them; and, accordingly, all the horse and foot in the town poured out to attack them, and pursued them to a garden called Khorm Bagh, about a fursung from the city, when the Booroonghar becoming the munkulaie, or advanced guard, of the Moghools, charged them in front and rear at the same time. The fight was, however, steadily maintained on both sides until the sun went down, when the brave Moghools followed them even into the gate of the city; but, as night approached, they with their usual caution retired.
The next morning, the Turks advanced towards the city; and a man named Feridoon Oodi, who was an old soldier of Sultan Mahummud Khorezm Shah’s, with five hundred chosen men, was stationed at the gate they approached. The Moghools stood the whole of that day before the town; and the next day, Joje Khan, Chughtaie Khan, and Ooktaie Khan arrived with an immense army; and, after sending a messenger to require the city to surrender, they and their troops, like the harbingers of death, surrounded it on every side. After these preliminaries they next began to prepare their engines for the siege, and as stones were not to be found, they sharpened stakes and trees in place of them. As soon as they were ready, they commenced their attack, which was supported without intermission for seven months.
The march of Chungeez to the city of Turmuz.
Chungeez Khan, after taking Mawurunneher and despatching his sons to Khorezm, halted at Samurkund during the spring, and then moved on to Nukhsheb, and having fattened his horses in the meadows and pastures of the river Khooshgar, at the end of the summer advanced towards Turmuz, called also the city of Men,* to which place he despatched a messenger, requiring the people to submit to him. They, however, refused; and Chungeez Khan marched to Turmuz, and encamped at a place called Dubdubeh, and commenced the siege of that place. The people of Turmuz left no means untried to oppose the Moghools; but, after a siege of ten days, Chungeez Khan ordered a general assault, and the town was taken, and the walls and bastions thrown into the river Jihoon. It is related that the total destruction of the city and fort was effected by the Moghools in ten days.*
The Moghools, after taking the city, slaughtered the whole of the inhabitants, men, women, and children;† and then marched to Lungurut and Samana, which they treated in the same manner.
Chungeez Khan crosses the Jihoon, and despatches his son Tooli to Men.
At the expiration of the winter season, or Zi Huj, Hejri 617, Chungeez Khan crossed the ford of Turmuz to Balkh; and the chiefs and people there advanced to meet him with presents, and offered their submission. Chungeez Khan, however, declined receiving the latter, not placing dependence in them; as at this period Sultan Julal-ud-din, the son of Sultan Mahummud, was creating disturbances in that part of the country. He, therefore, ordered the whole of the inhabitants to quit the city, and then murdered the males, great and small, at his leisure. He, however, reserved the women and female children. Some few Tachiks were also spared; and they, it is said, reported to Chungeez Khan that the chief people of the city, before they went to meet him, secreted the servants and soldiers of Sultan Mahummud in their houses, and that they were only in outward appearance obedient. For this reason he ordered part of the walls or dykes of the lake Gholaman Kushmushum to be thrown down by the troops of Hulaku Khan, and that the water that was contained in it should be allowed to flow into the city of Balkh. It is said that, in consequence, it remained six months under water; and at this day the marks of the water are shown on the walls of the musjid of Huzrut Khwaja Kabulakhbur. The whole of the servants of Sultan Mahummud concealed in the city were, therefore, drowned. At this time intelligence was received by Chungeez Khan than Sultan Rokn-ud-deen, the son of Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah, had left Isfahan, and had advanced, by the road of Rai, to the fort of Feeroze Koh, in Khorasan. For this reason Hulaku Khan, the son of Tooli Khan, was detached with a large army, by the route of Pusso Koh and Jokhcheran, to attack that fort.
It is related in different histories, that Sultan Rokn-ud-deen Ghoor Sanja, the son of Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah, when his father retired to the island of Abgoon proceeded to Kirman, and having taken possession of the treasure of Mullik Zowzun, marched thence to Isfahan, the inhabitants of which city opposed him, and an affray ensued, in which many were killed on both sides. Sultan Rokn-ud-deen being thus compelled to retire from Isfahan, turned his steps towards the fort of Feeroze Koh, where he remained a short time. When news arrived that Hulaku Khan was approaching by the road of Pussa Koh, Jokhcheran, Walishun, &c. with a large army, Sultan Rokn-ud-deen fortified himself in Feeroze Koh, and defended it most gallantly for six months.
It is related, that when Hulako left his grandfather to proceed by the road of Pusso Koh to Feeroze Koh, from the rugged nature of the country and roughness of the roads his horses were almost all lamed, and he was obliged to leave them behind; a detachment was, however, left to take care of them, with orders not to quit the place until Hulako returned. After the fort of Feeroze Koh was taken, Tooli Khan arrived in Khorasan, and Hulako went by the road of Chisht and Obeh, and Shafilan, to meet him, and thence by Khorasan to join his father, and the men and lame horses were forgotten. These people being unable to deviate from their orders, in time connected themselves with the Hazaras in that neighbourhood, and their posterity increasing, their place of residence was called Moori Sutur Gae—moori, signifying a horse in the Moghool language, and sutur gae, lame.
When Hulako’s army conquered the troops of Sultan Rokn-ud-deen, the son of Sultan Mahummud, and took him prisoner, the sultan was carried to Tooli Khan in Khorasan; and although every method was tried to make him kneel and do homage to Tooli Khan, the chief of the army, they all failed, for the sultan knew he should certainly be put to death, and was determined not to do his enemy so much honour. As he expected, he was slain with all his adherents, in the beginning of the year 619 Hejri, agreeing with Kowi Eel Toorki.
When Chungeez Khan had taken Balkh, he despatched Tooli Khan and Toghachar Noyaun Goor Kan, to reduce the province of Khorasan; to give them a respectable force, he selected every tenth man of his army to proceed with them, and his historians state that this tenth of his army amounted to eighty thousand men. When the troops arrived in Khorasan, they besieged a fort on a mountain, called the Silver Mountain, and employed their engines and every effort to take it: but the fort being very strong, it took them eight months to reduce it.
We left Joje, Chughtaie, and Ooktaie Khan, besieging Khorezm, which city, from the contention that arose between Joje and Chughtaie, held out seven months. Chungeez Khan was informed of this misunderstanding, and that when one attacked the city the other withdrew his aid, and that, in consequence, Khorezm was not yet taken, and he therefore despatched letters and a vukeel to his army at Khorezm, ordering them to obey his youngest son Ooktaie, and Ooktaie only, on pain of death. When his vukeel and letters arrived, the whole of the army repaired to Ooktaie Khan and offered him their obedience, and Ooktaie Khan visited his brethren, and making known his father’s orders by fair words and promises, reconciled them. After this was effected, they commenced a fresh attack on Khorezm, and as the ditch was full of water, Ooktaie ordered his troops and followers to fill it up with earth; this being done, ladders were planted against the walls, and the standards of the Moghools soon waved on their crest, and they entered the city; the different mahls and quarters of the city were, however, shut up, and the fight was maintained by the inhabitants for several days, as every house stood a siege. The number of killed in these battles was immense. At last, when the city was subdued, the Moghools separated the artizans, women, and children from the others, and drove the rest out of the city, where they were divided among the troops, and massacred without remorse; it is said that every Moghool is supposed to have slain twenty-four men.
At the time Chungeez Khan despatched an army to Khorezm, he also sent a messenger to Shaikh Nujm-ud-deen, to inform him that as his troops were about to attack Khorezm, and it was likely the city would be taken, he recommended the Shaikh to leave the city with his family and dependents, that they might receive no injury. The Shaikh in reply said, that he had lived seventy years in Khorezm, and that it would be most unworthy in him to quit his countrymen in time of distress; that as he had passed many happy days among them, it would be unmanly to refuse to participate in their misfortunes. When the city was taken, the Shaikh was put to death among those driven out of the city; this occurred in the year 618 Hejri.* It is said that Mulana Roomi has alluded to the Shaikh’s death in his works.
The remainder of the expedition of Tooli Khan to Khorasan.
When Tooli Khan marched to Khorasan, Toghachar Goor Kan with ten thousand men proceeded to Nishapoor. Mujdul Moolk Kafi, Omr Raji, and other chiefs being there, they made every preparation to oppose the Moghools, and among the rest they placed three thousand engines for shooting arrows,* and three hundred engines for throwing stones† on the walls. On Wednesday, in the month of Rumzan, the Moghools arrived and the siege began, and was maintained without intermission for three days; and on the Friday of that week, Toghachar Goor Kan was killed by an arrow shot from the bastion Karakosh.
It is related by Ameer Khojundi, that he was the younger brother of Kurachar Noyaun, and the son-in-law of Chungeez Khan.
After Toghachar Goor Kan was killed, the Moghool chief Noorkar Noyaun divided his army, and half their force marched in the direction of Subzwar; the remainder continued the siege, and after three days’ hard fighting, Nishapoor was taken in the middle of the day, and it is said that seventy thousand men were killed on the occasion of its capture.
The half of this army that had remained then proceeded to Toos, and taking several cities on the road, massacred all the inhabitants.
Tooli Khan after this marched to Men, and on his route, collected from the towns which had submitted to him, as Sirkhosh, Abewurd, &c., seventy thousand archers. When the Moghools arrived near Men, after destroying certain forts and castles on the road, four hundred Moghool horse who preceded the army, advanced up to the gates of the city. The same morning twelve thousand Turks of the Suljook tribe, who had separated from their horde, also advanced to the gates of the city for plunder, and as the Turks and Moghools did not recognize each other, they fought, and the Toorkmans being defeated, the Moghools pursued them to their tents and killed a great number, and those that escaped the Moghools, threw themselves into the Men rood, or river, and were all drowned, and their cattle and sheep fell into the hands of the Moghools.
The next day, which was the 1st of Mohurrum 618, Tooli Khan, with five hundred horse, arrived at the Feroze gate of Men, and encamped there after examining the defences of the city, and six days were spent by him in the same manner.
Mookhbir ul Moolk the chief of Men, had separated from Sultan Mahummud at one of the islands in the Caspian sea, and had assumed the government of the city, and being the son of a woman of the zenana of Sultan Mahummud, who had been consigned to his nominal father when she was with child, he consequently considered himself a very great man.
On the seventh day, the Moghools being all assembled, they encamped round the gates of Men and commenced their attack. The garrison made some vigorous sallies, but without effect; the Moghools surrounded the city so closely, that it became impossible any one should escape.
The next night, also, the Moghools kept strict watch that no one should escape; and as Mokhbir ul Moolk saw there was no hope of defending the city, and no resource but submission, he despatched one of the chiefs of Men, named Jumal-ud-deen, to Tooli Khan, with presents of great value, to beg quarter; and having received a flattering answer, he next proceeded to Tooli Khan himself.
On his arrival, Tooli Khan required him to give a statement of the condition of the city and the wealth it contained, and Mokbir ul Moolk having answered his inquiries, by naming two hundred of the richest inhabitants, the Moghools took possession of the city, and destroyed the defences, and the whole of the people were expelled, and, with the exception of four hundred artizans, and a few boys and girls made slaves, the remaining population, men, women, and children, were put to the sword. It is related that Azuddin Nisabi, with other writers, were employed sixteen days in counting the dead bodies.* When the Moghools had finished their bloody work, Tooli Khan made Ameer Zeauddeen Ali (a religious man, who had been spared, from the sanctity of his life), governor of the city, and Barmas darogah, and leaving a number of strangers with them, marched towards Nishapoor. After the Moghools had departed, all those persons who had secreted themselves in holes and corners came out, and about five thousand people assembled at Men. At this time a body of Moghools, who were following the army, arrived, and demanded their share of the unfortunate people of Men: those people, therefore, who had escaped before, were now slain.
About this time also news arrived that Puhlwan Aboobukir Dewan and Shums-ud-deen Mahummud had caused some disturbance at Sirkhus; Ameer Zea-ud-deen, therefore, with a detachment, marched thither; and Barmas, with some artisans of Men, encamped outside the town, being about to proceed to Bokhara. The remainder of the people, conceiving he was about to flee from the city from fear of Mahummud Khorazm Shah, rebelled; and Barmas sent men into the town, and put to death the ringleaders, and then proceeded to Bokhara.
Zea-ud-deen, after this, returned to Men, and rebuilt the walls of the town, and a number of people assembled round him. At this time Kostgeen, a servant of Sultan Mahummud Shah, arrived with a large force, and commenced the siege of Men. Ameer Zea-ud-deen, finding he could not defend the city, retired with the Moghools to Maraghah. Kostgeen, therefore, took possession of Men, and began to rebuild it: the people of the city, however, sent a letter to Zea-ud-deen, inviting him to return; and he did so, and encamped at the gate of Men. Kostgeen, however, hearing of his arrival, despatched a party to seize him; and knowing his safety depended on his destruction, put him to death. A few days after, a party of two hundred horse proceeding to Keeko, a detachment moved on to Nuksheb, and again informed Toormai and Kubai, ameers of Chungeez, of what had happened at Men; and in a few days five thousand men were despatched to Men, under two chiefs named Toormai and Akmulik, who took the city, and put to death all those who remained in it. Akmulik was left in charge with a detachment, and Toormai returned to Nuksheb.
Tooli Khan in the mean time marched with his army and engines towards Nishapoor, and notwitstanding the city is built of stone, all the stones in the neighbourhood were collected, to be employed in battering it; and a harvest of stones was showered on the city, the tenth part of which did not take effect. The people of the city, seeing the Moghools a different people from what they expected to find them, and that they had several thousand engines casting arrows continually on the walls, and three hundred battering engines, besides naphtha and other implements of attack, began to despair of success in opposing the Moghools, and they despatched the kazi, Rokn-ud-deen Ali, the son of Ibrahim Moghunni, to Tooli Khan, to offer their submission and tribute. Tooli Khan, however, refused to receive either; and he returned, and on Tuesday, the 12th Suffer, the siege re<-?>commenced, and continued till Friday, when the walls of the town were broken down in many places, and the water in the ditch drawn off. The siege, however, continued with great vigour, but the garrison still defended themselves with such courage that the Moghools could only establish themselves at the foot of the wall, and a sortie was made from the Patan gate. That day until night, the Moghools succeeded in clearing the walls of their defenders; and on the night of Saturday, the Moghools obtained possession of the walls, and entered the town, where they commenced to plunder and murder the inhabitants. The chief object, however, of their search was Mokhbir ul Moolk, who was at last found in a mine, and in order that they might sooner kill him he gave them every abusive term he could apply to them: they therefore put him to death, and the whole of the inhabitants were driven into the fields and then slaughtered, in revenge for the death of Toghachar Goor Kan, the son-in-law of Chungeez Khan; the city was destroyed, and its site ploughed up, and it is said not even a cat or a dog was left alive, and moreover that the daughters of Chungeez Khan, who were in the Moghool camp, with their servants, entered the city and killed all the people they could lay hands on, in revenge for the death of their brother. Some few artisans, about forty, were however spared, and sent to Turkistan. The fortifications and all the respectable buildings were levelled with the ground, and the ground sown with barley. It is stated in the histories of Khorasan, that the killed at Nishapoor were so numerous that it took twelve days to count them.
The expedition of Tooli Khan to Herat.
Tooli Khan, after this exploit marched to Herat, where on his arrival he encamped in a meadow near the town, and despatched a vukeel, named Zumboor, to direct that the mullik ameers, kazies, &c. of the city should come out to make their submission to him, that they might not be destroyed. At that time Mullik Shums-ud-deen Mahommud Jorjani was governor of Herat, on the part of Sultan Julal-ud-deen, the son of Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah; as soon as he heard of the arrival of Tooli Khan, he began to prepare on all sides for his reception.
It is related, that at that period there were near 100,000 fighting men at Herat and in its vicinity.
When the ambassador of Tooli Khan arrived, therefore, the mullik put him to death, and said he hoped that day would never arrive when he should obey the commands of an infidel. Tooli Khan, on hearing of this barbarous action, immediately surrounded the city, and ordered every man taken to be put to death. In the seven days’ siege that followed, the Moghools made many attacks, and lost seventeen hundred men of rank and respectability; and Shums-ud-deen, the governor of the city, was also killed by an arrow from the Moghool assailants. The people of the city, however, now divided; the kazies and great men being desirous to surrender. It happened at this time, the eighth day, that Tooli Khan, having drawn up his troops opposite the Feerozabad gate, advanced to the ditch with a few men, and called out to the garrison that he was the son of Chungeez Khan, and that, if they wanted to preserve their lives and those of their families, they must surrender immediately; that they should only pay half the revenue they paid to Sultan Julal-ud-deen; and he also took an oath that these terms should be observed.
The people of the city, on hearing Tooli Khan’s propositions, immediately surrendered, and opened their gates; and Ameer Az-ud-deen Hervi, the chief of the cloth-weavers, first visited Tooli Khan, with a present of fine cloths, and after him all the chiefs and people in the city. Tooli Khan received them with kindness. However, twelve hundred men, who were the servants of Sultan Julal-ud-deen, were put to death; but no injury was offered to the other people of the city. Mullik Aboubuker Mursufi was appointed governor of Herat, with a Moghool named Mongtaie, as police-officer; and Tooli, after collecting his spoil, marched towards his father’s camp.
Mullik Aboubuker and Mongtaie governed Herat for some time to the satisfaction of all parties; but, as the destruction of this city was decreed by fate, after a short period intelligence was received there that Sultan Julal-ud-deen had arrived at Purwan, a town between Bamian and Ghizni, and that he had defeated the troops of Chungeez Khan and dispersed them. When this news arrived in Khorasan, there was a governor (foujdar), and a learned man or news-writer, on the part of Chungeez Khan, in each town. These were immediately murdered by the inhabitants, from a foolish belief that Chungeez Khan could not oppose Julal-ud-deen in the field. The people of Herat, also, having combined and rebelled, murdered Aboubuker and the Moghool foujdar Moongtaie, with all their followers; and they then made Mullik Mobariz-ud-deen Subzwari, who had just arrived from Feeroze Koh, their governor, and placed the government of the province in the hands of Khwajeh Fukhr-ud-deen Iraki, an experienced man: they also unanimously agreed to defend themselves against Chungeez Khan. When this intelligence reached Chungeez Khan he was much displeased, and severely reproached Tooli Khan for having spared the lives of the inhabitants of Herat; and then despatched Eeljudaie Noyaun, who is also called Eelchukdaie, with eighty thousand Moghools, to that city, and ordered him to spare no living creature in it. Eeljudaie marched in the month of Shuwal 618, and on reaching Herat encamped on the river there, where he ordered his men to prepare for the siege in one month. He was also joined here by fifty thousand men, horse and foot, from different parts of Khorasan.
In the city, Mullik Mobariz-ud-deen and Kwaja Fukhr-ud-deen, with other ameers, also prepared for the siege, and all agreed to die in defence of the place. Eelchukdaie, in about a month when he had completed his arrangements, surrounded the city with detachments of thirty thousand men each, threatening them with severe punishment if they did not do their duty, and promising them rewards if they did, and the siege commenced; the garrison and people of the town, who knew their lives would not be spared, fought with desperation, and the troops of the Moghools with their engines and naphtha, burned and destroyed all the buildings and defences of the town. In this way the siege continued for seven months, until, in the beginning of 619 Hejri, Eelchukdaie Noyaun made a great effort to take the city, and repeated his assaults day after day until from the force of his engines, upwards of one hundred feet of the wall gave way and at once fell down, and four hundred Moghools posted and entrenched themselves in the breach. The people of the city, however, in this state, defended themselves against the Moghools for three days; but at length, from the numbers in the city and total want of provisions they became divided into two parties; and on a Friday, in the month of Jumadi-ul Avul 619 Hejri, the Moghools entered the city by a ruined bastion, and Eelchukdaie ordered all the inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex, to be put to the sword; the Moghools afterwards destroyed the houses and defences, and filled up the ditch. It is related, that the Moghools were employed seven days in the massacre of the people, and the destruction of their habitations.
Eelchukdaie Noyaun, on the eighth day, departed from Herat and marched towards Kashghur, not leaving a vestige of the city; the spoil taken was sent to Chungeez Khan; on his arrival at Oobeh he detached one thousand horse to Herat, that they might put to death any of the inhabitants who might have hidden themselves or escaped.
It is related that, except Molana, Shurf-ud-deen Khatib Chugrutan, and fifteen other persons, not a soul was left alive in Herat. That after some time, twenty-four men of the Bulook tribe joined them, and that for fifteen years they were the only inhabitants of this once beautiful and populous city.
Thus, in the short period of three months, Men, Nishapoor, Herat, Toos, Subzwar, Jajurum, Nisa, Abyoor, Surkush, Kaf, and many other cities of Khorasan, having passed beneath the hoofs of the Moghool horse were trodden to dust, even to the borders of Sewistan.
Tooli Khan having destroyed the cities of Khorasan as above detailed,* returned towards Talikan and Budukhshan, where he joined his father, agreeably to his order.
About this time, also, Tooli Khan with the troops of Chungeez Khan, took the castle of Talikan, the people of which were treated according to the Moghool custom.
Of Sultan Julal-ud-deen.
When Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah died, Sultan Julal-ud-deen and his younger brothers returned from the island of Tas Goon in the Caspian Sea with a few adherents, Sultan Julal-ud-deen desired to distinguish himself in the field, but at the same time to avoid the fate of his father and the reproach that attended his memory; his object, therefore, was to establish his authority in Khorezm, for as yet the troops of the Moghools had not reached that country, and ninety thousand men of the Kunkuli, or his mother’s tribe, were stationed there. When, however, the sultan arrived at Khorezm, he found that only a part of the men he had depended on were his friends, and that a great portion were the reverse; he was, therefore, afraid to trust himself with them. At this time intelligence came that the Moghools had arrived in Irak; he, in consequence, despatched a messenger to his brethren, Arzlak Sultan, Go Khan, Khumarutgeen, Oghul Sahib, and Mullik Timour (whose adherents altogether amounted to ninety thousand men), to inform them of the arrival of the Moghools, and he himself proceeded by Nissa towards Shadmagh.
On his march, however, at Oostawa, he fell in with a division of the Moghool army, and a battle with them ensued, and was bravely maintained until night separated the combatants, when Sultan Julal-ud-deen, apparently having had the worst of it, proceeded to Shadmagh.
At this time Arzlak Sultan and his brethren received intimation of the advance of the Moghools, and as they could do nothing by themselves, they marched to join the sultan. On their march, however, they fell in with the same Moghool army which had fought with the sultan at Oostawa, by which they were entirely defeated and dispersed, the Moghools pursuing them.
When Sultan Julal-ud-deen arrived at Shadmagh he halted three days to collect his troops and baggage. On the third night, or the 11th Zilluj 617, he was forced, by the arrival of the Moghools, to depart, and he fled by the road of Perowan to Ghuzni, to the government of which his father had before appointed him. He had no sooner left Shadmagh than the Moghools arrived there, and finding he was gone followed him, but after five days’ journey gave up the pursuit.
On the arrival of Sultan Julal-ud-deen at Ghuzni, the soldiers of his father, Sultan Mahummud, who had been dispersed, immediately flocked to his standard; and as the city and country of Herat had been destroyed by Tooli Khan, the Ghoorians also joined Sultan Julal-ud-deen; forty thousand men also of the Kubkuli tribe also joined him from Khorezm.
In the spring, therefore, Sultan Julal-ud-deen left Ghuzni, and moved towards the town of Bazan; and when he arrived there, he was informed that Begchuk and Tumkoor, with a large army of Moghools, were besieging the castle of Walian, and that it was on the point of being reduced. The brave sultan, therefore, left his baggage, and made a forced march towards his enemies, and on meeting them immediately attacked and destroyed their advanced guard, consisting of nine thousand men. As the sultan’s force was considerable, he next forded the river of Walian, and fell upon the main body of the Moghools besieging that fort. These also were defeated; and on the approach of night fled, leaving an immense booty in the hands of the sultan and his troops. The sultan then returned to Bazan.
When Chungeez Khan heard of this exploit he was in Talikan, and, to check the sultan’s career, immediately despatched Kykoor Noyaun, with thirty thousand men, to oppose him, and prepared to follow them himself. Kykoor Noyaun with his troops, soon reached Bazan, where Sultan Julal-ud-deen was encamped, and ready to meet him. On their arrival, the armies furiously attacked each other immediately. The battle continued the whole day, and the sultan is said to have conducted himself most gallantly, but at night victory remained doubtful. Kykoor’s army, however, had suffered much from the troops of the sultan, and he found himself obliged to have recourse to stratagem. He, therefore, ordered each of his soldiers to make a figure of a man with wood and numud, or blankets, and place them in array in the rear of his camp, and the next day when the armies were drawn up to renew the fight, the troops of the sultan seeing these figures of men in the rear of the Moghools concluded another army had joined that of Kykoor, and became alarmed, and desirous to retreat. Sultan Julal-ud-deen did all in his power to prevent their retreating and to encourage them, and dismounting from his horse led them on again to meet the Moghools; and as soon as they were aware of the artifice which had been put in practice by them, they charged the Moghools, and gave them so terrible a defeat that none escaped, the two Noyauns and their domestic servants, who rejoined Chungeez Khan, excepted. The spoil taken was immense. On hearing of this disaster, Chungeez Khan immediately marched from Talikan, in Budukshan, to oppose the sultan himself.
In the mean time a quarrel had arisen in the camp of Sultan Julal-ud-deen, between Syfe-ud-deen Aghrak, one of the chief ameers of Khorezm, and Mallik Hazara, about a horse taken among the spoil, and Mullik Hazara struck the head of Syfe-ud-deen’s horse with his whip, but as the sultan did not interfere, Syfe-ud-deen being discontented, at night quitted his camp with thirty thousand men, and retired to the mountains of Sunkran, and the Kubkuli Toorkmans and the Khiljees also deserted his camp. The sultan, therefore, was extremely weakened by these defections when Chungeez Khan advanced to attack him. Chungeez Khan, on his march, was first delayed a month by the resistance of the people of Indurab in Budukshan; and after taking this town he advanced to the fort of Bamian, and in the attack of this place Mamgan or Mamusgan, the son of Chughtaie Khan, a young man greatly beloved by Chungeez Khan, was killed by an arrow from the walls. Chungeez Khan, much afflicted at the death of his grandson, when the fort was taken, ordered the whole of the inhabitants, of all descriptions, man and woman, little and great, to be put to the sword. The fort of Bamian was also destroyed, and Chungeez Khan gave it the name of Mao or Bud Maligh, i. e. ‘the Evil City’, and to this day it has not been re-peopled. This occurred in the year 618, or Eet Eel of the Turks.
The march of Chungeez Khan to attack Sultan Julal-ud-deen.
After the defeat of Kykoor Noyaun and his army, and the destruction of Khorezm, Joje Khan, the eldest and ablest son of Chungeez Khan, was despatched to the desert of Kupchak, and Chughtaie and Ooktaie Khans, his second and third sons, were sent with a large army to the banks of the Jihoon, where, after ravaging the country of Khorezm and massacreing the inhabitants, they returned to join their father; and on their route the cities which gave up the followers of Khorazm Shah were saved, but those which did not were utterly destroyed by them. In this way they conducted their march until they arrived at Bamian, where Chungeez Khan was encamped, and having made the customary homage to their father, they presented him the most valuable of their spoil.
Previous to their arrival, Chungeez Khan had given orders that Chughtaie Khan should not be apprized of the death of his son, Mamusgan, and on their meeting after some days, he first severely reproached Chughtaie with the dissensions that had occurred between him and his brethren at Khorezm, which had delayed the taking of that city. Chughtaie in great sear made an humble apology for his fault, and Chungeez Khan then changed his tone to one more kind and friendly, and clothed him with a dress of honour, and disclosed the death of his son, but directed him not to make any show of mourning or grief for him. This order Chughtaie strictly obeyed, and Chungeez Khan and his army, immediately after, proceeded by forced marches to Ghuzni, by the route of Kabul, to attack Sultan Julal-ud-deen.
On their arrival at Ghuzni they found Sultan Julal-ud-deen had left that city fifteen days before, and had retired towards Hindostan. Chungeez Khan, therefore, left Yulwaj Noyaun as governor in Ghuzni, and without any delay followed him, and continued his pursuit without intermission, until one morning at break of day, the army of Sultan Julal-ud-deen was descried near a ford on the banks of a river,* and the Moghools immediately formed for battle and spread round his camp, so that they formed an arc, and the river the chord, Sultan Julal-ud-deen being enclosed in the centre. The sultan was completely entrapped, on this occasion, having an immense army in his rear and an unfordable river in his front; he therefore prepared for battle, or, as the author says, he spurred the horse of courage into the field of slaughter, and covered the earth with the dead bodies of the infidel Moghools.
The troops of Chungeez Khan first charged the right wing of the sultan’s army, commanded by Sultan Khan Mullik, and entirely defeated it; he being slain with most of his troops they next attacked the left, which also fell into confusion; there remained, therefore, only the main body, which consisted of about seven thousand men under the sultan. These fought desperately from morning to mid-day, the sultan moving, as occasion required, from the right to the left, and repeatedly charging the main body of Chungeez Khan’s army, killing great numbers of the Moghools. The sultan’s actions on this day were the admiration of both armies, and even Rustum or Isfendiar would not have been ashamed to serve under so brave a captain: but, as the troops of Chungeez Khan were numerous beyond calculation, and increased by the arrival of fresh troops every hour, and as in proportion to his loss the space occupied by the sultan and the number of his troops was continually diminishing, he was at last in danger of being made prisoner by the Moghools, when Akhas Mullik, the son of Khan Sultan, seized the bridle of his horse and compelled him to retire from the field.
The unfortunate sultan, heart-broken, and with his eyes full of tears, took leave of his wives and children, and having mounted a fresh and strong horse, again charged the Moghools, and fought his way through them to the river, where he threw off his armour and all his ensigns of royalty, and plunged with his horse from a bank near twenty feet high into the stream, to the opposite bank of which his horse, by the favour of the Almighty, swam in safety. Not so his followers, as they were almost all drowned or killed by the arrows of the Moghools. Chungeez Khan is said to have been so struck with the sultan’s gallant bearing, that he ordered that no one should draw a bow against him while he was in the river.
It is said, that from the number of men slain in the river, this day, the water to the distance of an arrow’s flight became as red as blood.
When Sultan Julal-ud-deen attained the opposite bank of the river he moved slowly along it, until he came opposite his late encampment, where his feelings were agonized by seeing his tents plundered and his family seized by the Moghools.
It happened that Chungeez Khan was standing on the bank of the river, and the sultan, when he arrived opposite to him dismounted from his horse, and after having taken off the saddle and bridle, spread his cloak and bow and arrows in the sun to dry, and having placed his chutr or canopy on his spear, sat down alone under its shade.
Before the evening prayer the sultan was joined by seven men of his army, who had escaped by swimming across the river, and in the evening with these seven men he struck into the Chool, or desert of Churk.
Chungeez Khan was all this time observing the motions of the sultan, and on his departure he seized the collar of his garment with the hand of astonishment, and broke out into expressions of applause and admiration, and turning to his sons desired them to take an example from that brave man; the whole of the troops of the sultan were, however, put to the sword, and all his male children, however young, were also destroyed, and as the sultan had ordered a great part of his treasure to be thrown into the Sindh, or Indus, Chungeez Khan caused it to be searched for and brought out by divers.
Chungeez Khan halted at this river many days. This event occurred in the year 618 Hejri; or Yound Eel Toorki.
Chungeez Khan despatches his ameers Doormun Bukhshi and Bala Noyaun, in pursuit of Sultan Julal-ud-deen to the countries of Hind and Sindh.
After Sultan Julal-ud-deen had sustained this defeat and loss, as above described, about fifty of his servants joined him, one and two at a time, and at night they left the Indus, and struck into the wilds and forests, and no one knew where they had gone. Chungeez Khan, however, under the notion that they had retired towards Hindoostan, the next day despatched Doormun Bukhshi and Bala Noyaun, who were of the chief officers of rank in his army, with a large force towards Hindostan, and gave them orders to put all the servants of Sultan Julal-ud-deen they might find to death; these chiefs therefore crossed the Sindh, and proceeded towards Hindoostan, and from Mooltan and Lahore to the sea-side; wherever they discovered the soldiers of Khorezm concealed they slew all without exception, and destroyed all their cities, but spared those who delivered them up, plundering them notwithstanding of all their goods. In this expedition they put to death all the males they met, but seized their wives, families, and wealth, which they brought back with them; they, however, could not discover the retreat of Sultan Julal-ud-deen. It is said that they continued their pursuit to Mulkapoor and the sea-side, and returning thence joined Chungeez Khan near Balkh.
What befel Sultan Julal-ud-deen after his defeat, and his return towards Irak.
It is related, that Sultan Julal-ud-deen after leaving the river Sindh, retired with his fifty followers, armed with staves only, towards Thutta and Bukur, where he made a night attack on a large body of Hindoos, and other infidels, who were causing some disturbance in that country, and divided their horses and arms among his followers; and his army increasing, he remained two years there, making war on the infidels and taking possession of many large cities of that country; but at last, desirous to regain his dominions in Irak, he marched in that direction by the route of Kech and Mukran, and, in the beginning of the year 621, he arrived in Kirman, where Borak Hajeb agreed to pay him tribute, and gave him his daughter in marriage, and his marriage was consummated in the city of Kirman. After two days, the sultan proceeded on a hunting expedition, but Borak Hajeb remained behind on pretence he had the gout, the sultan, not knowing it was a mere pretence, despatched one of his servants to Borak, to tell him he intended to march to Irak, and requested as he was a man of talent that he would join him, that they might have a consultation together on the subject. Borak replied, that he advised the sultan, by all means, to proceed to Irak, as he could not support his troops any longer, or again admit him into Kirman, he then expelled all the sultan’s servants from Kirman and shut the gates. Sultan Julal-ud-deen being unable to revenge this perfidious conduct, marched towards Irak by the route of Sheeraz, and Atabuk Saad, the son of Zungi, who was at that time king of Fars, sent one of his sons with presents to meet him and gave him one of his female relations in marriage. The sultan proceeded next to Isfahan and Rai, the government of which territories, his brother Sultan Ghaias-ud-deen, was compelled to give up to him.
Sultan Julal-ud-deen, after making some regulations for the benefit of his army and the protection of his subjects, marched towards Baghdad to obtain aid from the Kaliph. Nasir, the kaliph, however, from his old hatred of the kings of Khorezm, despatched Koorshtimour with twenty thousand men to oppose his approach to Baghdad. The sultan being made aware of his object, when they met gave him battle; and although his troops were few, totally defeated him, and then marched to Tabreez. Atabik Ourung, the son of Jehan Pehlwan, who was the governor of that place, left his wife Mulkia (a lady of the Suljeook family), to defend the city and fled. The sultan, in the year 622 Hejri, therefore besieged Tabreez; during the siege, it happened that Mulkia by some accident saw the sultan and fell in love with him, and having apprized him that her husband had divorced her, she was married to him by Kazi Uzuddeen Kazvini. Ourung, on hearing of the infidelity of his wife, died of grief.
The sultan after this, conducted two expeditions into Gurjestan and destroyed many of the infidels of that country. While the sultan was residing at Teflis, news arrived that Borak Hajeb had determined to attack the province of Irak; the sultan immediately marched and in seventeen days arrived on the frontier of Kirman; and Borak Hajeb, hearing of his arrival, made his submission and many valuable presents, and begged the sultan’s forgiveness; the sultan, therefore, returned to Isfahan where he remained for some time. At that period, he was informed Mullik Ashruf Shah, had sent a certain Haji Ali to Ikhlat who had offered some insult to his women; and that Mulkia, one of his wives, had left Tabreez, to live with Haji, at Ikhlat. The sultan, on hearing this, marched to Ikhlat, to take revenge for this insult, and having plundered the country was about to lay siege to the town, when he heard of the arrival of the Moghools in Irak; he, therefore, returned to oppose them. On his falling in with the Moghools a battle was fought, in which he was defeated and obliged to flee to Isfahan, where he punished those of his army who had behaved ill in the battle, and promoted all the brave men to high rank. In the beginning of the year 625,—or Ood Eel of the Turks, the sultan again led an army to Gurjestan and destroyed a great number of the infidels of that country. He then marched to Ikhlat, which city he took in a very few days, and caused a general slaughter of the inhabitants, from sunrise until the evening, after which he pardoned those who survived. He also took the wife of Haji Ali into his harem in place of Mulkia, in revenge of the seduction of that lady; the fame of the sultan was much increased by this action. The sultan was still at Ikhlat, when he heard that the kings of Room (Turkey in Asia), and Syria, had united to attack him, he therefore, although he was unwell, marched to oppose them, and met a division of six thousand men of the Syrian army in the desert of Moos, of whom it is said not one escaped. The troops of Room afterwards advanced, and a battle with them also followed; the sultan, although he was sick, left his litter and mounted his horse, but being too weak to sit on his saddle, his servants requested him to dismount and take a little rest, and he accordingly did so. The chiefs of his army, however, from this, concluded that he intended to flee from the field of battle, and all turned their backs on the enemy and fled; the sultan was then obliged also to retire towards Ikhlat. The army of Room, however, being apprehensive the king was leading them into an ambush by this movement, did not therefore advance beyond the town of Koosh Kuddum. When the sultan arrived at Ikhlat, he was informed that Ooktaie Khan had despatched Churmagoon with a large force, beyond the river Amooya or Amoo towards Irak: he in consequence marched towards Azurbijan, and deputed one of his chiefs to obtain intelligence of the Moghools. This person, however, went to Tabreez only, and returned without any correct information, but reported that there were no Moghools either in Irak or Azurbijan. The sultan pleased at this false intelligence, gave himself up to feasting and pleasure, as did all his servants.* After a few days, spent in constant drinking and debauchery, (that is in the beginning of the year 628 Hejri), Looee Eel Toorki, Churmagoon with an immense force of Toorks and Tartars arrived. Azur Khan, who was one of the confidential servants of Sultan Julal-ud-deen, being aware of their arrival, went to the bed<-?>side of the sultan who was asleep, and awakened him, and made him acquainted with the circumstance: the sultan being intoxicated had some cold water thrown on his head, mounted his horse and fled, leaving Azur Khan to make head against the Moghools. Azur Khan kept his ground with great difficulty, until the sultan had left a considerable distance between him and his enemies, when he himself retreated. The Moghools taking Azur Khan for the sultan, followed him to Rai, but after they found out their mistake they pursued the sultan, and massacred every follower of his they met: at last, they fell in with the sultan himself, and put him and his children and all his followers to death. There is some difference in the accounts of historians respecting the end of sultan Julal-ud-deen, some say that the sultan escaped from the Moghools and fled to the mountains, where his horse tiring, and he himself being much fatigued, he dismounted and fell asleep, and that the people of the hills, seduced by the splendour of his garments, and the value of his horse, put him to death while asleep. Others again say he escaped, and assuming the dress of a soofi (a religious order), passed the rest of his days in travelling and in privacy, prayer, and penitence. This occurred in the year 628 or Taosh Kan Eel Toorki.
The return of Chungeez Khan to Turkistan.
Histories relate, that after Chungeez Khan had destroyed the family and connexions of Mahummud Shah of Khorezm, and that his son had fled to Hindoostan, his anger became appeased, and he called to mind the message he had received from heaven, on his commencing his expedition to Persia, and mentioned it to Kurachur Noyaun. At that time intelligence arrived that the tribe of Tungut,* or the people of the East, from the long absence of Chungeez Khan, had rebelled, and he in consesequence determined that a part of his chiefs and troops, should pursue the sultan to Mukran and Hindoostan, and the rest return to Ghuzni, and thence to Tooran, the reason for this was, if the sultan remained in existence, and any delay in his pursuit occurred, he would gain strength, and it was best therefore to put an end to him and his exertions at once, and then, when the winter arrived, the whole of the Moghool troops might return to Tooran.
In conformity with this plan, Chughtaie Khan was sent with a large force towards Surat and the borders of Hindoostan and Mukran; and Ooktaie Khan was despatched with a force from the Indus to Ghuzni. Ooktaie Khan took Ghuzni, and notwithstanding the people offered their submission, their conduct in aiding Sultan Julal could not be forgiven; and they were, with the exception of the trades-people, all massacred, and the city was razed to the ground. Ooktaie, after destroying the towns of Sindh, proceeded, by the route of Gurmseer and Herat, to Mawurunneher. Chughtaie Khan, after plundering the countries of Kech and Mukran, halted for the winter at Lanjoor, a country on the banks of the Indus. The governor of that country, Salar Ahmud, submitted, and supplied all the provisions and forage he could for the support of the troops. However, the air of the country did not agree with the Moghools, and they almost all fell sick. At this time the Hindu prisoners, of whom the Moghools had taken great numbers, were ordered, each man, to clean four hundred maunds of rice in a certain period; and as they failed in executing this order in seven days, they were all barbarously massacred, by the orders of Chughtaie Khan. Chughtaie, on his arrival, also despatched eelchees, or ambassadors, to the countries of Kech, Kutch, Mukran, and the port of Surat, and received their submission, and troops were detached to reduce those who refused to obey the summons. When the Moghool troops recovered their health, and no tidings of Sultan Julal were heard in that neighbourhood, they prepared to return towards Tooran.
The return of Chungeez Khan to Tooran.
In the spring season, therefore, after the sun had discomfited the icy troops of winter, and was returning to his might; and the king of flowers, the rose, with his many coloured array appeared to kiss the ground from whence he sprung; Chungeez Khan marched with his victorious army on his return to Tooran, by the road he came, and halted at the city of Boklan, that the followers and baggage he had left there might rejoin him. He passed the summer in the pleasant meadows of that city, and here appointed darogahs, or governors, to all the cities of Eeraun, to keep them in subjection. In autumn he departed from Boklan, and having crossed the Jihoon, encamped at Samurkund, from which place he despatched a messenger to his favourite son, Joje Khan, to recall him from the Desert of Kupchak; and in the mean time ordered a komoor gheh, or general hunting excursion to collect game from a distance to a certain point, and during the winter, Chughtaie and Ooktaie Khans took up their quarters at Bokhara, and amused themselves in hunting and field-sports.*
When the spring arrived, Chungeez Khan departed from Samurkund, and directed that Sultan Khatoon, the mother of Sultan Mahummud Khorazm Shah, and his wives, should be carried in advance of his army, and that they should bewail the loss of their sultan and his kingdom, which it is said they did the whole of the way.
On the march of Chungeez Khan to his own country, on the banks of the Sihoon, he was joined by his sons, Chughtaie Khan and Ooktaie Khan; and after they had crossed the Sihoon, and arrived at the Kullan Yazi, or Desert, Joje Khan arrived with a large force there from the Steppe or Desert of Kupchak. Sahib Kiran Chungeez Khan with his sons, ameers and troops, formed here a hunting circle, and when the circle closed in to the town of Oofaizuk, he himself joined the hunting party and killed great quantities of game, he then gave leave to all his officers and soldiers to kill as much as they pleased, and what game was left alive was marked with his letter and let go. Joje Khan having arrived at this place, performed the usual nine genuflexions to his father and offered him many valuable presents; as, for instance, ten thousand Irghmak horses, of which two thousand were all of one colour. After making these presents Joje Khan was exalted above the heads of his brethren in the affections of Chungeez Khan. Chungeez halted for the winter at this town; and as all his family were present, he ordered a general council, or kooriltaie, to assemble, and several of the chiefs of the Oighoors were put to death. Joje Khan was then with great honour and distinction permitted to depart to the Desert of Kupchak; and Chungeez Khan returned to his capital, Khan Baligh,* in the year 621 Hejri, agreeable to Sujkan Eel of the Toorks.
Conclusion of the expedition of Jubeh Noyaun and Sowidai Buhadoor to Iran, in pursuit of Sultan Mahummud.
It is related by historians, that Jubeh Noyaun and Sowidaie Bahadoor, who were detached on an expedition to Iran, after taking the fort of Kuroon Duj, in which the mother and wives of Sultan Mahummud had sought refuge, marched towards Koom. After the capture of that city, Jubeh Noyaun proceeded to Hamdan and Sowidaie to Kazveen. The chief of Hamdan, Ala-ud-deen Humdani, immediately submitted, made large presents, and received a Moghool governor. Intelligence arrived at this time that a body of the troops of Sultan Mahummud had assembled at Chash, under Beg Togeen and Kookh Booka Khan, and the Moghools immediately marched against them. The troops of Mahummud Khorezm Shah, however, did not wait their arrival, but dispersed, and freed from the fear of a siege plundered and ravaged the surrounding country. The Moghools, therefore, as the winter season had arrived, marched to Moghan, and remained there during the winter. Jumal-ud-deen, Ooviah, and other chiefs, however, in the meantime, raised a disturbance in Irak, and murdered the Moghool governor of Hamdan, and confined Ala-ud-deen in the castle of Kirbeet, because he had surrendered to the Moghools. As soon, therefore, as the spring arrived, Jubeh Noyaun marched to Irak, to revenge the death of his governor; and notwithstanding Jumal-ud-deen Ooviah offered his submission, it was refused; and the whole of Azurbijan Murgheh and Nukcheban, with the exception of Tubreez, was destroyed and laid waste. The Moghools then ordered Atabuk Aurung to submit to their authority, and marched to Iran, where they destroyed the cities of Beelkan Gunja and Burda. They then marched to Shirwan, and demanded from the chief, Shumakhi Ajurkhi, liberty to proceed, by the route of Durbund and the desert of Kupchak, to join Chungeez Khan.
Shumakhi sent ten men of the Ajurkhi tribe to confer with the Moghools, and the latter, to frighten them into obedience and to make them show the road by which they intended to proceed, on their arrival put one of them to death:—the rest of these men, therefore, terrified at the fate of their companion, acted as guides through the Durbund passes; however, as soon as they got through them they were attacked by the Alanians* and Kupchak Tartars. Sowedaie Bahadoor, in these circumstances, despatched a messenger to the Kupchak Tartars, to say, they and the Moghools were brothers, being of the same race, and that the Alans were the enemies of both, and requested them, on the score of relationship, to separate from them; he also sent them presents. The Tartars of Kupchak believing in these professions left the Alans, who were so much weakened by their defection as to be unable to resist, and they were consequently nearly all destroyed. As soon as this was effected, Sowedaie, without any regard for his treaty, or the ties of consanguinity, immediately attacked the Kupchak Tartars, and almost exterminated them; those who escaped, however, sought refuge with the tribe of Aroos† (the Russians), and having been joined by a large force of that nation, they returned and gave battle to the Moghools. The Moghools in this battle, to deceive the Russians and Kupchakians, affected to retreat; but after dividing and fatiguing their enemies by a pursuit of several days, they turned round, suddenly, and gained a complete victory over their opponents; Sowedaie, after this, joined Chungeez Khan, and presented him the spoil they had taken.
After the winter was past, Chungeez Khan received intelligence of the rebellion of Shidurkoon, the chief of Ghasheen and of the tribe of Tungut; and, also, that he was in great force: he accordingly assembled an army, and marched to attack him. Shidurkoon was not backward in meeting him and a bloody battle ensued, in which the Tungut Tartars were defeated, and Shidurkoon fled and sought refuge with a people, called the Irtakians. Kasheen or Ghasheen was, however, taken by Chungeez Khan, with many other cities, after the manner in which he had conquered Khorasan, and the Tongut country was plundered and laid waste.*
When the spring arrived, Chungeez Khan determined to proceed to the countries of Khorche and Tektash, or Tukyas; when he arrived at Khorche the chief of that city readily submitted to his authority and made him many valuable presents. At this time, also, Shidurkoon, who had fled to Artakia, despatched a messenger with presents of immense value to Chungeez Khan, and requested his forgiveness; and stated, that if he were assured of pardon, he would come and make his submission in person. Chungeez Khan having given the requisite assurances, the messenger departed.
The advice and testament of Chungeez Khan to his children and Kurachar Noyaun.
The authors of historical relations write, that immediately after Chungeez Khan had dismissed the vukeel of the Tungut chief, upon whom he conferred great honours, he fell sick, and his malady increasing continually, and feeling that his death was approaching, he ordered that all his sons, brothers, and Kurachar Noyaun should be assembled; and, on their meeting, addressed them to the following effect:—that his disease was fatal, and his time had arrived to depart from this world; that he required they should state to him, whom they intended or wished should succeed him? Joje Khan, his eldest son, had died in the desert of Kupchak, six months previous to this period.
Chughtaie, Ooktaie, and Tooli, his three sons, were present, and, kneeling, in reply, said, they considered themselves his slaves, and were obedient to his orders. Chungeez Khan then said, that he had perfect confidence in the prudence and abilities of Kurachar Noyaun, and that in the possession of a clear and sound judgment he excelled all his family; that he insisted, if they respected his (Chungeez Khan’s) memory, they should, on no occasion, deviate in any particular from his advice. He then ordered, that the treaty, or code of regulations made between Kabul Khan and Kacholi Bahadoor, which was known by the name of the Al Tumghaie of Toomna Khan, and which had been signed by all his predecessors, should be brought from the treasury. After it was brought he read it to his children, and said, that he, and Kurachar, and their forefathers, had strictly conformed to it, and that he now constituted and appointed Ooktaie Khan to succeed him, and resigned the kingdom and throne to him; that they should also conform to the treaty, and give a written engagement to the effect that they would all obey him, and attend his kooriltaie whenever they were summoned; his sons, accordingly, signed the agreement, which was placed in the Al Tumghaie of Chungeez Khan. The cities of Mawurunneher and those in its neighbourhood had been assigned to Chughtaie Khan formerly, but because there was an enmity of old subsisting between Iran and Tooraun, and moreover Sultan Julal-ud-deen and his brethren were still living, Chungeez Khan, for these reasons, committed Chughtaie Khan to the care of Kurachar Noyaun, and requested him to continue the same protection and attention to his interests in the regulation of his army and kingdom he had ever shown during his, Chungeez Khan’s, life; Chungeez Khan also requested Kurachar Noyaun to adopt him as his son, which he did, and both parties signed a contract or agreement to that effect. The treaty of their forefathers Chungeez Khan gave to Chughtaie Khan; the contract of his sons he gave to Ooktaie Khan. He next addressed himself to the descendants of the Noyauns, and then to all his family indiscriminately, exhorting them to preserve concord and brotherly love to each other,—to keep his death a secret,—and he lastly enjoined them to put Shidurkoon to death whenever they might lay hold on him, that their authority might be securely established. Chungeez Khan then closed his eyes, and soon after breathed his last;* his death, however, was studiously concealed by all his family, who, although immersed in grief, preserved smiling countenances to their dependants; this event occurred on the 4th Rumzan, 624 Hejri, agreeing with the Tunkoor Eel of the Turks, which was the year of his birth, the year of his accession to the throne, and the year of his death. It is related by the best historians, that Chungeez Khan was seventy-three years old when he died; that he was forty-nine when he ascended the throne; and that he reigned twenty-nine years. His son, Joje Khan, as has been stated, died about six months previous to his death, but there were present with him at the time of his death his three sons, Chughtaie Ooktaie and Tooli, with Kurachar Noyaun and all his family, with the exception of a few persons employed on different duties.
The family of Chungeez Khan observed his directions to keep his death secret so punctually, that until the arrival of Shidurkoon to make his submission, no appearance whatever of mourning or sorrow was manifested in his court.
When Shidurkoon left the city of Artakia, in the hope the assurances which had been given him by Chungeez Khan would be observed, the ameers and Noyauns who accompanied him treated him with every respect and attention and pretended to escort him to meet Chungeez Khan; when, however, they arrived at a small distance from the camp of the Moghools a body of troops which had been kept ready to put him and his adherents to death, arrived and massacred the whole of them, sending them, as the historian, with his usual liberality, says, to offer their homage to Chungeez Khan in the infernal regions; the Moghools after this immediately despatched a body of troops and plundered the city of Artakia and carried off the inhabitants to Moghoolistan as slaves.
On the arrival of Chungeez Khan’s family in Moghoolistan they buried the body of Chungeez Khan at the foot of a favourite tree, under the shade of which he was accustomed to sit when out hunting, and which he had directed should be his place of burial; he also directed that a mausoleum of magnet or loadstone might be made, and that his body should be placed in it in a coffin of steel.
It is related, that when his children had constructed the mausoleum and placed the coffin therein, as he directed, the latter became suddenly attracted on all sides, and remained suspended in the air. His family then caused the vicinity to be forbidden (koork), or laid waste, and now the mausoleum is in the midst of a thick forest through which there is only one narrow path. It is said that some kafirs (infidels) have taken up their abode in this place, and that a devil at times enters the coffin, and gives responses to such questions as are proposed to him; these the hearers look upon as oracles, and the kafirs who are the attendants or priests there, and who worship this coffin, conform to these pretended oracles, and increase infidelity by their promulgation; the infidels consider this tomb as the house of God. There is no other road than that described to this mausoleum, from the thickness of the forest surrounding it.
Some modern historians say that Chungeez Khan was born when the sun was in the sign Libra, and as that sign is esteemed influential on the atmosphere, for that reason the learned in the religion of Mani (the Manicheans) directed that the body of Chungeez Khan should be suspended in the air on a cross.* The sons of Chungeez Khan, however, refused to offer such an indignity to the body of their father; and, therefore, to avoid such an exposure, the Manicheans formed the mausoleum of loadstone as above described. The sons of Chungeez Khan and the Noyauns were much pleased at the ingenuity of the undertaking, it being such as was never before attempted.
After the arrangement of the mausoleum had been completed, and the body of Chungeez deposited therein, the sons and family of Chungeez Khan, commenced their period of mourning: and after the usual offerings to the soul of the deceased, without any settlement being made as to the sovereignty or future distribution of the empire, they each returned to his proper place of residence. As Chungeez Khan before his death had resigned the sovereignty to his third son, Ooktaie Khan, of course an account of this prince will take precedence of those of his elder brethren.
The names of the Padshahs, or Khans, who have reigned in Aligh Yurut.
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.
The march of Ooktaie Khan, Chughtaie Khan, and Tooli Khan to Khutaie, and the conquest of that country; also the death of Tooli Khan on his return thence.
Ooktaie Khan kept his army continually employed against the insubordinate districts of his realm; and soon after his accession to the throne, himself, with his brothers Chughtaie and Tooli, with a large army, marched to Khutaie* and conquered many of its cities. It is related, that Altai Khan, king of Khutaie, was so much terrified at the invasion of the Moghools, that he fled, no one knew whither; and some say that he raised a funeral pyre, and was burnt on it with his wife and family, by his own directions. Ooktaie Khan, after the conquest of Khutaie, left Aziz Bulwaj in charge of that country and returned to his own capital. On his route back, in the year Hejri 627, or Pars Eel of the Turks, Tooli Khan, the fourth son of Chungeez Khan, and who was known by the name of Baligh Noyaun departed this life; it is said, that Tooli Khan excelled his brethren in bravery, and in the management and discipline of his troops. He was commander-in-chief in his father’s time, and had charge of the treasury, military equipments, and encampments or stations of the army; but, notwithstanding his manifold occupations, he found time to study mathematics, in which he became a proficient. Chungeez Khan, in his lifetime, gave him the government of a country next to that of Ooktaie Khan. It is said, that Tooli Khan left twenty sons;— Mango Khan, Koblaie Khan, Areek Noka Khan, and Hulako Khan, were born of the same mother. Mooka, Toochick, Shookur, and Muriltaie, were of different mothers.
When Ooktaie Khan returned to his own country he caused a palace to be built at Karakorum, which is called by the Turks, Koorshi. It is related, that he despatched Batuie, the son of Joje Khan, Mango, the son of Tooli Khan, Tool Khan, Boozri and Paidar, the sons of Chughtaie Khan, and his own son Kyrook, with a large army, to conquer the countries of Russia,* Circassia, Mugus or Mukus,† Bulgharia, and the Bashkir territories; and that these princes after many bloody battles, in seven years subdued them all.
In the year 633 Hejri, agreeing with Suchi eel Toorki, Ameer Arghoon, of the tribe of Awirat, was appointed bukhshi and tupukchi, and despatched to Khorasan as governor, to enquire into the state of the district of Kurkur; and as the district of Bulookat of the dependencies of Herat was also waste and deserted, Ameer Azuddeen Hervi, the chief of the cloth-weavers, who had been sent to Turkistan with one hundred of his workmen, by Tooli Khan, was commissioned to repeople that fertile district, and a darogah, named Kureek, was appointed to proceed with him. Ameer Azuddeen, with the darogah and the prisoners from Herat, in the year 636 Hejri, agreeing with Tunkooz eel Toorki, arrived at that city and rebuilt and repeopled its districts.
In the month of Jumadiel Avul 639 Hejri, agreeing with Pars eel Toorki, Ooktaie Khan died of excessive indulgence in wine and women;* he reigned fourteen years, and his actions are fully described in many historical works.
Of Kyook Khan, the son of Ooktaie, the son of Chungeez.
In the most respectable histories, the second king of the Aligh Yoorut, of Chungeez, was Kyook, the son of Ooktaie Khan. It is related that Noora Kusan Khatoon, the mother of Kyook Khan, at the death of Ooktaie Khan, as her son was absent, took charge of the kingdom and troops on his behalf; and when Kyook Khan returned to his father’s capital, a general kooriltaie was assembled, and all the princes of the Boozunjur family attended it except Batwi, the son of Joje, who sent his brethren from Kupchak, but, on pretence of lameness, did not attend himself. The fact was, he was not favourable to the pretensions of Kyook Khan, for this reason—that Ooktaie Khan had bequeathed his sovereignty to his grandson, Shiramoon, the son of Kojwi; but Shiramoon was a child, and the mother of Kyook Noora Kusan, and the other princes, had confederated in Kyook’s favour, in the month of Rubbi-el-Avul, 641 Hejri, Eet eel Toorki, Kyook Khan was placed on the throne.
Kyook Khan, it is said, like his father, was a very liberal prince. He remained for the winter at his capital; but in the spring he marched with an immense army towards Iran, and despatched messengers to Khitaie and the desert of Kupchak, to collect all the princes and their contingent armies. When, however, he arrived at or near Samurkund, death suddenly seized him; and Batwi, the son of Joje, and the other princes who had advanced to join him, returned to their respective governments. Kyook reigned one year.
Mango Khan, the son of Tooli Khan.
The third king of the Moghools was Mango, the son of Tooli Khan; he ascended the throne three years after the decease of Kyook Khan. When Kyook died at Samurkund the empire fell into great disorder, the princes being all disaffected, and each aiming to accomplish his own aggrandizement. Mango Khan, therefore, with his brethren repaired to Batwi, the son of Joje Khan to obtain his protection, as he was the chief among the grandsons of Chungeez Khan. Batwi immediately seated Mango Khan on the throne, and made the nine customary genuflexions, and assisted as his cup-bearer. He also appointed his brother Boorkah, the son of Joje Khan, to accompany Mango Khan, and establish him in the sovereignty of Aligh Yoorut; but the other princes were not favourable to Mango’s claims, he not being the son or descendant of Ooktaie Khan, and they all made excuses and declined to attend his kooriltaie or court, and for this cause his formal accession was delayed four years. Boorkah wrote an account of this dispute to Batwi, who then ordered him to place Mango on the throne, whether his brethren attended or not. Boorkah Ooghul, therefore, in the month of Rubbi-el-avul, 645 Hejri, or Toshkan eel Toorki, placed him on the throne in the desert* of Karakorum, and performed the usual ceremonies of his inauguration; this occurred in Achonch Ai, or the spring of the Turkish year.
The princes who were adverse to the accession of Mango, were Yusu Munkaie, the son of Chughtaie Khan, Shiramoon, the son of Kojwi, the son of Ooktaie Khan, and Batwi Ooghul, the son of Kyook, the son of Ooktaie Khan. When Mango Khan was established on the throne, the malice of his enemies which had been before concealed became evident, but Mango wisely excused the princes, and only punished the chief instigator of the mischief, an ameer named Kudak (one of the chief servants of Kyook Khan), with a few others of less note.
The march of Hulako to Persia.
Mango Khan, after this exertion of his authority, appointed his younger brother Hulako Ooghul, to the command of the troops assembled to reduce to order the kingdom of Persia. This force consisted of one-fifth of all the able-bodied Moghools subject to his authority, and amounted to 120,000 men. Among the chiefs of this army were Baesa Ooghul, the son of Tooli Khan; and on the part of Batwi Khan, Bulghaie, the son of Suknak, the son of Joje Khan; also Tooma Ooghul, the son of Joje Khan; these, with their forces, and on the part of Juchkabegi, Toghaie Timour with a large body of Toorks and Noyauns all left their homes to accompany Hulako to Iran, and having conquered that country, they selected Azurbijan as the seat of their government, as is related by Atamullik, the brother of Shums-ud-deen Jooini, in his history called the Jehan Kusha, a compendium of which will be inserted in its proper place.
In the reign of Mango Khan, Yadikoot, the chief of the Oighoor tribe, formed a project to murder the Mussulmans of Paish Baligh while they were at prayer; it happened that one of the infidels became a Mussulman and disclosed the secret, and Mango Khan when he heard of it, despatched a body of troops who seized the conspirators, and Yadikoot was put to death for this offence. In his time the religion of Islam was much respected. Mango Khan, after appointing his younger brother, Areek Toka, as his lieutenant, to the charge of Aligh Yoorut, accompanied by his brother, Koblai Khan, and an army of six hundred thousand men marched to attack the country of Tuknas, otherwise called Macheen, and conquered the whole of it. The air of that climate, however, disagreed with him, and he fell sick and died in the year 658 Hejri, Peelan eel Toorki. Mango reigned fourteen years; he left one son named Shirki.
The fourth king of the Moghools, Koblai Khan the son of Tooli Khan.
It is related by historians that when Koblai Khan (who had for some reason quitted the country of Tuknas or Tungnas, and had arrived at Chungdoo, the capital of Khutaie, on his return to Moghulistan) heard of the death of his brother Mango, he immediately assumed the sovereignty in Chungdoo; this happened in the year 658 (Peelan eel Toorki), his brother Areek Noka, however, who had been left in charge of Karakorum by Mango Khan, when he marched to Tungnas or Macheen, also assumed the sovereignty at the capital, and several battles were fought between the brothers; at length, however, Areek Noka being defeated and abandoned by his partisans, submitted himself to his brother; and, Koblai or Kowilai Khan, after consulting with his ameers, shut up his brother Areek Noka, in a square enclosure formed of thorns or thorny bushes, of the acacia or babool tree, and placed a guard over him. Areek Noka, or Boka, lived in this enclosure a year, after which he died.
Kaidoo Tuburkeh, the grandson of Ooktaie Khan, next rebelled against Kowilai or Kublai Khan, and fought many battles with him and Kaidoo, accompanied by Arlaut Aghak, the chief of the ameers of Ooktaie Khan, and other tribes and people left Aligh Yuroot, and went to reside with the aloos of Jooras, who were the shepherds of Chungeez Khan, and lived in the vicinity of the tribes or-aloos of Chughtaie Khan. Koblai Khan despatched troops against him several times, but Kaidoo always succeeded in defeating them. Koblai Khan, in consequence of the enmity subsisting between him and the people of China and Macheen, also despatched an army of 800,000 men from Chungdoo to Tungnas, and again conquered that country: he also built a city and palace near Chungdoo, the ancient capital of Khutaie, or Northern China. The reason was, Kowilai Khan did not like to reside in the city of Altan Khan, the Chinese king, and he therefore laid the foundations of another city and palace near it, which he called Koorshi.* This city was fortified by four walls within each other, the distance between each being more than an arrow-shot. The first or outer line of fortifications was called Kirias; the second was assigned to the officers of the army; the third was the station of the Khan’s guards, and the fourth enclosure that of the palace. This city was called by the Moghools Khan Baligh; of the remains of this city also is a large river or canal from the river Zeitoun, which cuts off forty days’ journey from the ports of Hindoostan; this is brought through Khan Baligh; the breadth is said to be so considerable that it cannot be passed but in boats. Many merchants live, and carry on their trade wholly upon it; and the whole extent is navigable for large vessels. Some say it is four fursungs in breadth, and some say the city is four fursungs broad, the truth of this God knows. Kowilai Khan reigned thirty-five years, and died in the year 693 Hejri, or Yellan eel, his age being seventy-three years.
The fifth king of the Moghools was Timour Khan, the son of Jumakum, the son of Kowilai, the son of Tooli, the son of Chungeez Khan.
After the death of Kowilai Khan, Timour his grandson ascended the throne; his people called him Ooljaitoo Khan. This prince reigned twelve years in Aligh Yoorut, and conducted the duties of his station with the greatest prudence and justice. At his death his cousin Ayud, the son of Moklai, the son of Kowilai Khan, the son of Tooli, ascended the throne.
He became a Mussulman, and in his time most of the Moghool tribes were converted to Mahummudanism; at his death he was succeeded by Keelai Khan, the son of Birlai, the son of Chukmeem, and the seventh king of the Moghools.
Keelai Khan was a prince of great good qualities, but of the Christian religion; he was succeeded by the eighth king Koshbilai, the son of Jinsing, the son of Toorma, the son of Chumikum, the son of Kowilai Khan.
Koshbulai was succeeded by his son, Toktai Kaan, the ninth king of the Moghools.
The tenth king was named Burrae or Burae Kaan, the son of Tooluk. Burrae Kaan, during his reign, was called by the Moghools Pulkotu or Peelkotu Kaan.
Anushirwan, the son of Dara, was the eleventh king of the Moghools; in his time (from his bad disposition and bad management) the affairs of the Moghools fell into great disorder; he was succeeded by Wuku Timour, the twelfth Kaan.
This prince was also called Tooktimoor. Tooktimoor was succeeded by Yusoor Dar Kaan, the thirteenth king of the Moghools.
The fourteenth was named Eenkeh Khan, the son of Yusoordar.
Fifteenth, Alung Kaan.
Sixteenth, Tooran Timoor Kaan.
Seventeenth Ak Timoor Kaan, the son of Nubeea or Boneea, the son of Kurak Ooghul, the son of Ooktaie, the son of Chungeez.
Eighteenth Eelchee Timoor Khan.
It is related that Eelchee Timoor before his accession to the throne, was the servant of that great and victorious prince, Sahib Kiran, ameer Timoor* Goorkan, and that at the death of the Sahib Kiraniakbur, he immediately went to Aligh Yoorut and seated himself on the throne of Chungeez Khan.
Nineteenth, Tabuzi Khan.
This prince is said to have been descended from Areek Boka, the son of Tooli Khan, the son of Chungeez. It is said he succeeded Eelchee Timour Khan, and that in the time of the Sahib Kiran Timoor Goorkan, he fled from the princes of Aligh Yoorut and sought service with him, and that he was converted to the Mussulman faith; he also assumed the sovereignty of Aligh Yoorut after the death of Ameer Timoor; after reigning a short time, he was assassinated by the ameers of the Awirat or Eeraut tribes.
Previous to the accession of Tabuzi Kaan, the Tungot Tartars had seized the capital of Khutai from Eelchee Timoor Kaan, and only the original chief cities of the Moghools, Kulooraun and Karakorum, remained to them.
Twentieth, Oordai Khan, the son of Mullik Timoor Khan; this king was descended from Areek Boka, the son of Tooli Khan. In his time, the ameers of the tribe of Eeraut, who were able but treacherous men, and the assassins of Tabuzi Kaan, raised the standard of rebellion against him.
Twenty-first, Oodaie, the son of Ak Timoor, the
son of Boneea, the son of Kurak Ooghul, the son
of Ooktaie Khan. In his time, the chiefs of Eeraut
became so powerful, that they seized and retained
possession of the capitals of the kings of the Moghools,
Kulooran and Karakorum. (
A list of the kings of Kupchak, of the descendants of Chungeez Khan.
Historians state, that the number of kings of kupchak of the seed of Chungeez Khan to the present time is thirty-nine, beginning with Joje Khan, the son of Chungeez.
An abridged history of Joje Khan, the son of Chungeez Khan, and the first King of Kupchak.
It is related, that, on a time, during the absence of Chungeez Khan from his capital, and when no persons remained in his encampment except a few of the relations of his chief wife, (Boorut Koocheen, the daughter of the king of Kunkurat and the mother of his eldest children;) the tribe of Mukreet taking advantage of his absence, suddenly attacked, and took the whole of his camp and people, killing those who resisted, and marching off the rest prisoners. At that time Boorut Koocheen was six months gone with child of Joje Khan. As the Mukreet, however, were carrying off this lady, their spoil and prisoners, Oong Khan, the chief of the Kirayut tribe, who had adopted Chungeez Khan as his son, waylaid them with a numerous body of troops, and rescued Boorut Koocheen and her dependants and followers, and sent them safe back to Chungeez Khan. On the road, returning, Boorut Koocheen was delivered of a son, who, after he was born, by the advice of experienced persons, was wrapped up in khumeer, or dough, to prevent his receiving injury from the journey. When he was brought in this fashion to Chungeez Khan, he gave the persons who brought him with such care, the title of nairoon bayureen, or faithful servants, and called his son Joje, which word signifies a guest or stranger. From these circumstances, Joje was always reproached by his brethren with illegitimacy, and many false stories were made up and reported to his disadvantage to Chungeez Khan; these are stated at length in the histories of the Chughtayan race, but the generality of impartial writers agree that Boorut Koocheen remained in the hands of the tribes of Mukreet and Kirayut from the time of her capture until she was returned to Chungeez Khan, not quite four months; but the falsehood of these imputations is best proved by the extreme love manifested towards Joje by Chungeez Khan, (which he never would have shown had he not been his own son,) particularly in affairs of state; and we are assured that Chungeez Khan loved him above all his children. From this circumstance, his other brothers Ooghtaie and Chughtaie hated him, and raised the reports to which we have alluded. Chungeez Khan, however, would never hear any thing that tended to the disparagement of Joje, and, when the intelligence of his death arrived, none of the ameers had the hardihood to inform Chungeez Khan of his loss; at length, however, they all assembled, and it was determined that Alugh Jirje, or Georgi, who was one of Chungeez Khan’s companions, and a chief of rank, should tell him while he was performing the duties of bejur,* and accordingly on that occasion, Georgi said to him in Turkish.†
The substance of what Jirje, or Georgi, said to Chungeez Khan, in the Turkish language, is thus translated:—‡ “Oh, king, the sea is defiled or troubled, and who can purify or compose it? Oh! my king, a great commander has fallen from his throne, and who has power to raise him up and restore him?”—In answer to this Chungeez Khan replied that, “If the sea was troubled, his son Joje was the only person who could still it; and that if a great commander had fallen from his throne, Joje alone could raise him up and re-establish him.” When, however, Alugh Georgi repeated what he had said, with tears flowing from his eyes, Chungeez Khan said, “Why are thy eyes filled with tears, art thou grieved, and what is the cause of thy sorrow? Thou makest me sorrowful with thee. Surely Joje is not dead?” As Chungeez Khan had issued orders that if any one spoke of the death of Joje he should be punished, Georgi replied, “I have no power to disclose the cause of my grief: thou hast said it; thy orders be with thyself, oh, king! thy penetration has disclosed my secret.” It is reported Chungeez Khan then said: “Like the wild ass pursued by hunters and separated from its young, so am I; and like a fool who seeks friendship among his enemies, and abandons his friends, so am I, separated from my brave and worthy children.” The ameers of Chungeez Khan, who were all assembled, as soon as this conversation ended, took each his station, and performed the mourning ceremonies for the death of Joje Khan; six months after receiving this melancholy intelligence, Chungeez himself departed this life.
In the most faithful histories it is related, that Joje, after the conquest of Khorezm, by the orders of his father, diverged to the desert of Kupchak, and that the countries of Khorezm, Kupchak, from the frontier of Kyalik to Sukseen, Jirj, or Juzur, Bulgharia, Alan, Bashkur, Aroos, and Circassia, with all the territories in that quarter covered by the hoofs of the Tartarian horse, were assigned to Joje Khan, and in those countries he fixed his abode, and reigned there in a manner independent.
Joje Khan, as has been related, died before his father: of his descendants thirty-nine reigned as sovereigns of the desert of Kupchak.
First, Batwi Khan (the son of Joje Khan, the son of Chungeez Khan), after the death of his father, assumed the sovereignty of Kupchak by the orders of Chungeez; the countries of Alan, Aroos, Roos, Bulgharia, Circassia, Korum, and Arwak, which were all in the possession of his father Joje, taking advantage of his demise, and that of Chungeez Khan, rebelled; but with the assistance of his uncle, Ooktaie Khan, Batwi reduced them all to obedience. An abstract of these events is as follows:—When Ooktaie Khan ascended the throne of Aligh Yoorut, he was informed that the people of Kupchak and the other dependencies of Batwi Khan had rebelled against him. Ooktaie therefore despatched his son, Kyook Khan, Mango, the son of Tooli Khan, and Boolka, Noori, and Paidar, the sons of Chughtaie Khan, with an immense army to reduce all the countries subject to Joje Khan, and place them under the authority of his son Batwi. After many desperate battles they were all again subdued, and as the city of Mugus* was surrounded by a forest so thick that the wind could scarcely penetrate it, the princes cut it down, and made a road round the city that would admit of four carriages abreast; they then closely besieged the city, and, on taking it, massacred the whole of the inhabitants; the right ears of the slain, amounting to seventy-two thousand, were cut off and sent to Ooktaie Khan. On the arrival of the spring, when the princes had finished their warfare with the people of Roos, Kupchak, and Alan, they proceeded to the conquest of Kulah and Bashkur; the people of these countries, from their vicinity to the cities of Frengistan or Europe, being all Christians. Batwi Khan with the princes and an immense army proceeded on this expedition. The people he was about to attack, however, proud of their institutions, and relying on their strength, as soon as they heard of the movement of Batwi Khan, prepared to receive him; and, it is said, assembled in all near four hundred thousand horse to arrest his progress.
Batwi Khan appointed his brother Shuknak, the son of Joje, to command the advanced guard, consisting of ten thousand horse, and sent him off in front to reconnoitre the number and situation of the enemy: Shuknak returned in seven days, and reported they were twice the number of the Moghool army. When the armies approached near each other, Batwi Khan ordered all the Mussulmans in his army to assemble and repeat their prayers, and he himself ascended a hillock, and remained there without speaking to any one, in deep meditation and prayer, a day and a night.
The battle between the Moghools and Christians was fought the next day. It is said that a great river flowed between the armies, and that the night before, Shuknak, the son of Joje Khan, was despatched with a considerable force to cross it and take a position on the opposite side. Next morning, as soon as it was day, Batwi in person led the first onset, and repeated his charges without intermission; the Christians, however, being brave and numerous, did not give way until the part of the army which had crossed the river attacked them in the rear, and Shuknak with his troops charged to their very tents, the cords of which they cut with their swords; this charge, being unforeseen by the Christians, defeated them, and Batwi Khan had nothing more left to do than to pursue and cut up the fugitives, which he did effectually. These countries, therefore, being subdued, Batwi, by the orders of Ooktaie Khan, marched to the desert of Kupchak, and was again seated on the throne of that country. Batwi, after this expedition, built the city of Seraie. It is said that Batwi was not of any religion, and that except the worship of one God, he followed no persuasion or sect; he was, however, a great friend to the Mussulmans, and he was moreover just and liberal; he died in the year 654 Hejri, or Looe eel Toorki.
The second king of Kupchak, Boorkeh Khan, the son of Joje Khan.
It is stated by historians that when Batwi died, his brother, Boorkeh, succeeded him; some say he was a Mussulman, and in some histories it is related that his mother was of the Mussulman faith, and that he refused to take the breast of any female, except that of a Mussulman woman who brought him up. When he grew up to manhood he was ordered to various parts by his brother, and on one occasion went to the Kobutool Islam Bokhara, where he fell in with a certain religious man, and by him was finally converted to Mahummudanism; the shaikh who converted him is said to have been Huzrut Syfe-ud-deen Bakhoorzeen, who was one of the disciples of Shaikh Nujum-ud-din Kobria. Boorkeh remained some time receiving instructions from this saint, until by his orders he returned to Kupchak by the route of Chaje Turkhan. On his march with a few troops near the river Edul, he fell in with the army of Hulako Khan, the son of Tooli Khan, and a terrible battle ensued between them; from the efficacy, however, of the prayers and instruction of his saint-like preceptor, Hulako, who was marching to invade Kupchak, was defeated and obliged to retreat and give up his intention. He therefore retired to Azurbijan, and falling sick on the road died at Tubreez; the supposition that he was killed in the battle is unfounded.
Boorkeh Khan, victorious and enlightened, returned to Kupchak, and by the decree of the Most High ascended the throne of that country, and summoned his subjects to adopt the Mussulman creed. He reigned eight years, that is, from 654, or Looe eel, to 662 Hejri, or Suchkan eel Toorki, at which period he was seized with a disease called kolunj, or dropsy, and died.
He was succeeded by Sayin Khan,* third king of Kupchak.
In the most respectable histories his descent from Joje Khan and his actions are detailed at length, but as this is merely an abridgment of the Shajrat ul Atrak we shall only say, there is nothing found concerning him in that work; we, however, can state that he was a prince of great good qualities, and very liberal.
The fourth king, Moonga Timoor, the son of Toghan, the son of Batwi. It is related, that when Sayin Khan died in the city of Seraie, or as it is called Seraie Huk, Moonga Timoor Khan, the son of Toghan, the son of Batwi Khan, succeeded him. This Moonga was called also Kilik Khan, and is reported to have been a just, able, and liberal prince; in fact he is said to have been the redresser of wrongs and the terror of the tyrants and oppressors of his time.
The fifth king of Kupchak. On the death of Moonga Timoor, Bussoo Munga Khan (who is also called Toka Begi), his brother, ascended the throne.
Sixth king; Toktaie Khan, the son of Moonga Timoor Kilik, the son of Toghan, the son of Batwi Khan, succeeded his uncle in the sovereignty of Kupchak.
The seventh king; Ourung, the son of Toghrul, the son of Kilik, the son of Toghan, &c.
On the demise of Toktaie Khan, Huzrut Sultan Mahummud Ourung Khan, the son of Toghrul, &c., who was chief of the Ooloos of Ourung, by the command of the Most High ascended the throne in the year of the Hejri 712, Oota eel Toorki. It is said that for eight years he remained with his tribe in the country of Orfa, depending on the territory of Kupchak, the air of that district agreeing best with him, and the country abounding with game; at the expiration of eight years, in the year 720 Hejri, Akook eel Toorki, he was converted to the Mahummudan faith by Huzrut Kootoobul Owlia Zungi Ata; the Syud changed the name Ourung Khan, given him by his parents, to Sultan Mahummud Ourung Khan; most of his tribe were also converted with him. The account of these conversions will be found in the Mukamaut of Syud Ata. Syud Ata, after the accession of this prince and his tribe to the true faith, by the inspiration or direction of the Most High, caused them to remove towards Mawurunneher, and those who refused to obey Syud Ata, and remained unconverted, were denominated Kilmak, which signifies stationary; and those who accompanied Syud Ata and the Sultan to Mawurunneher were called after their king Ourung;—when they arrived in Toorkistan the Turks there, from their common descent and consanguinity, also entered the tribe of Ourung; —the whole of those who accompanied Syud Ata and their chief Ourung, from Oorfa or Arka, are the disciples of that saint; and this is their distinguishing mark, that those who are not his disciples came before or after him to Toorkistan. Sultan Mahummud Ourung reigned thirty-eight years, and died in the year 750 Hejri, Pars eel Toorki.
The eighth king, Jani Beg, the son of Sultan Mahummud Ourung, the son of Toghrul, the son of Toktai, the son of Toghan, the son of Batwi, the son of Joje.—On the death of Mahummud Ourung, his son Jani Beg ascended the throne, and after making arrangements for the government and regulation of his tribe, he marched with a large army by the route of Durbund to Tubreez. At that time no king of the seed of Chungeez Khan reigned in Iran: Ashruf, the son of Timoor Tash, the son of Choban Suldooz, of the race of the Suldooz chiefs, was king of Tubreez; he was extremely avaricious and a great tyrant.
When Jani Beg arrived at Tubreez, Mullik Ashruf was unequal to oppose him and his ooloos, and therefore retired towards Nukhchewan: he was, however, pursued by the Ourungians and taken prisoner by them; and Jani Beg, being a Mussulman and a just prince, put him to death, in retaliation for the cruelties he had committed, and freed the people from his tyranny. Jani Beg kept his army in such order, that although it was very numerous, no instance of violence or oppression occurred while he remained at Tubreez; he, however, seized all the treasures of Ashruf. One of the poets of the day wittily said, “Did you see what that ass Ashruf did? He took the load of oppression on his own shoulders, and left the gold to Jani Beg.”* On the Friday following hisentrance into Tubreez, Jani Beg attended the public prayers at the mosque of Alishah. Jani Beg after this subdued Azurbijan, and as he ruled with justice and was the patron of literature, Molna Sad-ud-deen Tuftazani, in the year 756, dedicated the abridgment of the Tulkhees to him. It is said, that Jani Beg was a righteous man and a great encourager of learning; when he had completed the subjection of Tubreez he appointed his son Pirowi Beg Sultan to the government of that country, and returned to the desert of Kupchak, to Seraie his capital, where he died; he was succeeded by his son Pirowi Beg, the ninth khan, or king of Kupchak.
When Jani Beg died, his son Pirowi Beg was established on the throne of Tubreez; he, however, on hearing of his father’s death, returned to Kupchak, where he assumed the sovereignty and reigned until his death, when he was succeeded by the tenth khan, Keeladi or Keeldi Beg Khan; he was a just and upright man.
The eleventh, or Nowroze Khan; this prince ascended the throne by falsely pretending he was one of the descendants of Jani Beg.
The twelfth, or Churkus Khan; this prince was also taken by the ameers of Kupchak (for political purposes), to be of the descendants of Jani Beg; he was succeeded by Khidr Khan, the thirteenth sovereign of Kupchak.
The fourteenth khan, Murdo Khan, the son of Khidr Khan.
The fifteenth, Bazarchi Khan.
The sixteenth, Tokaie Khan, the son of Shahi.
The seventeenth khan, Togluk Timoor, the nephew of Tokaie Khan; this prince, during his reign, conducted two expeditions to the conquest of Mawurunneher; he was at length carried off himself by the chupuwuls of death, and was succeeded by his brother, Moraud Khwajeh, the eighteenth khan.
The nineteenth khan, Kutluk Khwajeh, the son of Shahi, and the brother of Tokan Khan.
The twentieth khan, Aroos, or Ooroos Khan.
The twenty-first, Toktai Bae, or Bè, the son of Ooroos Khan; he was a mild and just prince.
The twenty-second khan, Timoor Tuluk, the son of Ooroos Khan.
Twenty-third khan, Toktumish.
It is related, that on the death of Timoor Tuluk Khan, Toktumish Khan was raised to the throne of his forefathers by the aid of the Sahib Kiran Ameer Timoor Goorkan. During the first part of his reign Ameer Timoor Goorkan continued his fast friend, but latterly, from the advice of interested persons, their friendship was converted to enmity and hostility, and several battles were fought between them. Toktumish in all these was defeated, particularly in the last engagement, in which however the troops of Toktumish made a stand in the field for several days. It is reported of this battle, that on every onset the right wing of the Sahib Kiran Ameer Timoor’s army defeated the left wing of the army of Toktumish, and the right wing of Toktumish’s army defeated the left wing of Ameer Timoor. After this had occurred, several days following, Toktumish consulted with his ameers, and altered the disposition of his army; as the whole of his left wing was broken and dispirited, he ordered Yughli Bai Bahadoor Behreeni, who was the chief of the tribe of Bahreen (whose ancestors had been the chiefs of that tribe from the time of Aghooz Khan), and belonged to the right wing, to take his post with his tribe in the left wing the next day, and accordingly the next morning Yughli Bai Bahadoor Behreeni, with the whole of his ooloos and eel or tribe, took his station on the left. As the left wing of Toktumish was, however, dispirited, and afraid of the right wing of Ameer Timoor’s army, at the first charge they were broken and dispersed, and Timoor’s general commanding the right wing, Ameer Osman (who was the fifth in descent from Kurachar Noyan), pursued them with such vigour that of the left wing of Toktumish, only Yughli Bai Bahadoor and his tribe remained. It is related, that on that day Yughli Bai had taken leave of his children and family, and that he took his station on horseback, with a spear in his hand, under the togh (the tail of the mountain cow) or standard, and that he directed his horse’s legs should be secured by a chain. Osman, in the pursuit, charged up to the division of Yughli Bai Bahadoor, and a terrible struggle ensued between them, and many were killed and wounded on both sides. The two chiefs at length engaged in single combat, but as Yughli Bai’s horse was embarrassed by the chain he fell down: the two chiefs having fast hold of each other at the time, and being heavy with their armour, they fell together to the ground. It happened, however, that Ameer Osman fell uppermost, and, therefore, having the advantage, he succeeded in cutting off the head of Yughli Bai. On seeing this, a shout burst from both armies, and the whole of the combatants turned their sole exertions to the possession of the head of Yughli Bai, the one side to retake and the other to retain it; and in this struggle the slain fell in heaps; the army of Ameer Timoor, however, suffered the least, while the loss of their opponents was incalculable. The body of Yughli Bai Bahadoor it is said was, after the battle, found covered by the bodies of seven hundred young men of his tribe, all clad in black armour, and each with a kitas (tail of the mountain cow) suspended from his horse’s neck. Their loss may be estimated from this circumstance. From that day the tribe of Bahreen, in the koor, assemblies, or durbars of the Ourung kings, have always taken their station (Ooroon) to the left, which is called by the Moghools Joonghar, and by the Turks Syool-ghool. Otherwise, before this period, they took their station to the right, with their brethren, the tribes of Kunkurat, Neiman, Jullair, Ooleshun, &c. (The right is called by the Moghools Oonghar, and by the Turks Oonkool.) This battle is the cause, at this time, of the diminution of their number, for they were originally twice the number of the tribes of Kunkurat and Neiman. In the Chughtayan histories it is related, that after the death of Yughli Bai Bahareeni, Huzrut Sahib Kiran Timoor added the title of Bahadoor to Meer Osman’s name, and also called him Nihung Giri, or the Seizer of the Crocodile. It is said that after this battle Toktumish had no power to make any further opposition to Ameer Timoor, and some say that his defeat was caused by the treachery of his ameers, who were in league with Ameer Timoor.
The twenty-fourth- king of Kupchak was Timoor Kutlo, the son of Timoor Beg Oghlan.
On the death of Toktumish Khan, Timoor Kutlo Khan, the son of Timour Beg, who had been in the service of Ameer Timoor, was seated on the throne; he was succeeded by the twenty-fifth khan, Shadi Beg, a wise and good prince; on his death he was succeeded by his son, Poulaud or Foulad Khan.
The twenty-seventh khan, Timoor Khan, the son of Timoor Kutlo Khan, the son of Timoor Beg Oghlan.
Twenty-eighth, Julal-ud-deen, the son of Toktumish Khan.
Twenty-ninth, Kureem Purdi Khan, the son of Toktumish Khan.
It is related in the histories of the Turks, that on the death of Julal-ud-deen, his brother Kurreem Purdi Khan, ascended the throne.
Thirtieth, Kyook Khan, the son of Toktumish.
Thirty-first, Chugur or Jugreh Khan, the son of Toktumish.
Thirty-second, Jubur Purdi or Perovi Khan, the son of Toktumish.
Thirty-third, Syud Ahmud Khan.
Thirty-fourth, Durveish Khan, the son of Ilahi Ooghlan.
Thirty-fifth, Mahummud Khan. The period from the first of the sons of Joje to the accession of this prince was two hundred and ten years, that is from the year 621, or Suchun eel, to the year 831 Hejri, or Oot eel Toorki.
Thirty-sixth, Dowlut Purdi, the son of Tashtimoor.
Thirty-seventh, Borak Khan, the son of Kurchook.
Thirty-eighth khan, Ghiaus-ud-deen, the son of Shadi Beg Khan.
Thirty-ninth, Mahummud Khan, the son of Timoor Khan, the son of Timoor Kutlo Khan, the son of Timoor Beg Ooghlan. From the period of Joje Khan, to the accession of Mahummud Khan, the son of Timour Khan, two hundred and forty years had elapsed; this is the period of a kirani owsut or medium kurun, estimated by the movements of the heavenly bodies; but God only knows the truth of this.
“O king, what cans’t thou expect from so much wine.
From so much debauchery what cans’t thou expect.
The king drunk, his country ravaged and his enemies before and behind.
From these things it is evident what thou must expect.