dark, and began to rain, in consequence of which, we lost the road, and as the night was extremely cold, we thought we should have perished (in the desert). About this time we saw some black (felt) tents or huts, upon which my companions said, " these are hillocks of sand and dust," so we gave ourselves up for lost; I therefore threw the reins on my horses neck, and took hold of the mane, the horse raised his head and began to neigh, and stretched his neck. When we arrived near the tents, we saw a light shining through one of the doors, which gave us courage; I therefore alighted from my horse, and entered the tent, the inhabitants of which supposing I was a thief, hallooed out and prepared to attack me; but when I told them all the circumstances, they were ashamed, and having cleared out a room which was constructed under ground, lighted a fire for us, on which my companions entered, and we took possession of the room; the good people shortly brought us some Temakh Keruny soup, of which I eat a great quantity, and was quite refreshed; they also brought us some blankets, upon which we lay down, but they were so full of fleas, that I could not sleep a wink all night. After I had mounted the Imperial throne, I recollected all the circumstances of my hunting excursion, of the cold and frost of the night, and of our society in the cellar, in consequence of which I sent for the family, (and made them Terkhan), i. e. amply rewarded them.

During this year, I was very ill for four months, and they could not find out any cure for my disorder, I therefore gave up all hopes of life; for a week I could eat nothing, but on the seventh day, they gave me a pomegranate; soon after I became quite languid and insensible, and while in the swoon, I fancied that they had bound me on a wheel, and were bearing me towards heaven, and afterwards descending to the earth; I did not recover from the fit, till they had burned me between the fore finger and the thumb, when I felt the heat of the iron, I opened my eyes, and saw the servants and my father and mother standing around me crying aloud, I also joined in lamentation; soon after this I became hungry, and the physicians having asked me what I would like, and they would bring it, I called for Yekhny, and some of the Temakh broth; I eat a whole plate full of the latter, and during the night fell into a deep perspiration, and from that time recovered.

Another of the auspicious omens predicting my sovereignty, was this; one day during this year, I was seated in my father's monastery, and was reading the 67th Chapter of the Koran;* when a gray-haired Syed entered the monastery, and having looked attentively at me, demanded my name, (having told him) he compared it with the chapter I was reading, and said, "God Almighty has given the sovereignty of the earth to this boy and his posterity;" I looked upon this * See Appendix VI.

circumstance as a mere dream, but when it reached the ears of my father, he encouraged my hopes, and shewed my Horoscope to one of the Astrologers of Türkestan, who said, " he will be superior in his own dominions, in dignity, and authority, to any of his predecessors, and he will add other countries to his own dominions, and will be an ornament to religion :" he then said to me, " your descendants and posterity shall rise to the very highest dignity:" when I had heard these words, I gave him a handsome present.

At this period, I passed much of my time in reading the Korān, and playing at chess; I was also much employed in charitable actions, and soliciting the blessings of the hermits and dervishes.

I was also fond of horsemanship, and I employed a celebrated riding master to teach me the art, and also to instruct me in the science of manœuvering an army; I frequently assembled my companions, and having taken upon myself the title of Commander, made them all obedient to me; and whenever we rode out, I used to divide them into two armies, and taught them how to advance, and how to retreat in the field of battle.

CHAPTER III.

About this period, I asked my father to tell me the history of our family from the time of Yafet Aghlan, which he did, nearly in the following manner:

"It is written in the Türkish history, that we are descended from Yafet Aghlān, commonly called (Abu al Atrāk) Father of the Türks, son of (the Patriarch,) Japhet, he was the first monarch of the Türks: when his fifth son Aljeh Khān ascended the throne, the all gracious God bestowed on him twin sons, one of which was called Tatar, the other Moghul; when they were grown up, Aljeh Khān divided the kingdom of Türkestān between them during his life-time; after they were seated on their respective thrones, they became proud of their authority, and forsook the religion of their ancestors, placing their feet in the paths of infidelity: Tatar had eight sons, from whom are descended eight (Oulous) tribes. Moghul had nine sons, from whom are descended nine clans : these two parties frequently disagreed, and fought many battles in the plains of Türkestān.

Till at length, after the establishment of the Islām faith, Tumenāh Khan was seated on the throne of dominion of the region of Türkestan; he had two sons by one birth, one of which he named Kajuly, the other Kubel Khan; when Kajuly had arrived at the age of manhood, he dreamt one night, that he saw two stars rise from the breast of Kubel Khan, and shortly after set; again he thought he saw a star, equal in splendour to the sun, which illuminated the whole world; when he awoke, he related his dream to his father, who expounded it in this manner; 'from the posterity of your brother, a boy shall be born in the third generation, who shall be the conqueror of the world:' Tumenāh Khān then gave orders for a grand feast, to which he invited all the nobles and principal persons; during the feast the brothers, having embraced each other, entered into an agreement, which was drawn up in the Türkish language, and engraved on a plate of steel, and which was deposited in the treasury; the subject of the agreement was this, 'that the posterity of the two brothers should never quarrel with each other; that the dignity of Khān should for ever remain in the descendants of Kubel Khan, and that of (Sepah Salar) Commander in Chief, and prime minister in the family of Kajuly.'*

In A. H. 549, Mungū Behadur, son of Kubel Khan, had a boy, born with his two hands full of blood, to whom he gave the name of Timujy; when this personage arrived at the age of forty-nine, after much toil and danger, he was seated on the throne of Türkestān.

On the day that he took the title of Khan, a dervish entered the assembly, and proclaimed, " the Lord hath said to me, ' I have given the surface of the earth to Timujy,' and I confer on you the title of Jengyz Khan, that is to say, King of Kings." But Jengyz abandoned the duty of a conqueror, by slaughtering the people, and by plundering the dominions of God, and put to death many thousands of the Muselmāns.

On the morning of the day that he died, he bestowed the sovereignty of Maveralnaher on his eldest son Jagtay Khan ; he appointed Kerachār Nuyān, son of Ayzdumjyn Berlās, son of Kajuly Behadur, who is my fourth and your fifth ancestor, to be generalissimo and prime minister; and caused the agreement entered into by Kajuly and Kubel Khan, to be brought from the treasury, and given to them; Jagtay having perused it, delivered it to Kerachar Nuyān, and conferred on him the title of Gurgān or Kurkān (Great Prince).

When God had bestowed on Kerachar Nuyān a son, he called him Anchel Nuyān; Kerachar was not at first one of the true believers, but followed the religion of the (Majusy) Materialists, who say that God is in every thing, and in every person; he was however anxious to acquire a proper knowledge of God, and therefore sought the acquaintance of all holy men, at length he asked the opinion of one of those learned personages, who was descended from Muhammed, * See Institutes, page 25.

† This name is spelled in Persian both Jagtay and Chagtay, a large portion of Türkestan is called after him.

what do the Muselmans say respecting the true knowledge of God; the holy man replied, 'the faith of the Muselmans is this, that from all eternity there has existed an Omnipotent and Omniscient Being, he is our God, and he is the God of all creatures, it is therefore not proper to say, as the Materialists do, for there is only one God, the creator of all things; we deny a plurality of Gods, and assert that there is only one:' Kerachar after some reflection, said, 'it is true, God can have no partner, he is all sufficient.' He then submitted himself to the holy man as a convert, and repeated the Creed after his preceptor; viz. 'there is no God but God, Muhammed is the Messenger of God;' glory be to him who is eternal, omniscient, and omnipotent, the all seeing, the all hearing, the giver of speech, the causer of all events.

Praise be also to his Messenger Muhammed, who by the miracle of dividing the moon, evinced he was the true Prophet, he is the minister of the glorious God, and the Khalifs are his Viziers.

From that time Kerachār became firm in his faith, and invited all the people to imitate his example, in consequence of which, the religion of Muhammed encreased and became current through all that region.

He also divided the country of Iran equally between the (Ayelat) different clans, and appointed the plains of Kesh for the residence of the tribe of Berlās, (his own tribe) giving them the water, the grass, and pasturage of that and several other places for their support; Kerachār then took on him the business of generalissimo, and subdued the countries of Kashgar, of Badakhshān, Andejān, and Hassar, also parts of Khorasan, which he retained as his own private territory.

When Kerachār departed this life, he was succeeded by his eldest son Amyr Ayltekuz, as generalissimo, who conquered several countries; when your grandfather Amyr Burkul succeeded as Sepah Salar, finding that there were dissentions among the tribes and clans, (Alusāt va Kushunāt) he was disgusted, and having retired from his office, contented himself with the government of his own clan of Berlās: he however possessed an incalculable number of sheep and goats, of cattle, of slaves and servants.

On the death of your grandfather Amyr Burkul, I succeeded to his possessions, but I preferred the company of the learned and the religious persons, and associated mostly with them, frequently soliciting their blessings and prayers, that the Almighty God, would bestow on me a son, which should raise the fame and encrease the dignity of the tribe of Berlās.

About this time, a celebrated Astrologer came from Fars to Maveralnaher, and one day when seated in the assembly of the learned personages, he said, 'from the revolution of the heavens it is well known to me, that, in the year seven hundred and thirty, (of the Hejira) a child shall be born, who will prove the conqueror of the world.' Verse, 'In the year seven hundred and thirty, on the 9th of the month, Rejeb, a star of auspicious title shall arise; God hath bestowed this boy on you."*

When my father had related all these circumstances to me, I was convinced in my own mind, that I was born to succeed to the sovereignty, and believed myself endued with all the requisite abilities; I became however very religious, constantly prayed to God for success, and made numerous offerings of cattle and sheep to the Syeds, the learned, and devout personages.

Thus I sent an offering of twenty sheep to the (Saint) Amyr Kelal, but in consequence of heavy rain, they missed the road, and I thought were lost; but some days after having gone to pay my respects to him, I saw the sheep standing at his door, and returned thanks to God, that my offering had been accepted. As soon as the Saint cast his eyes on me, he said to the by-standers, " the sovereignty of the territories of God has been bestowed on this young Tūrk;" he then began to say his prayers, I also imitated his example: after he had finished his devotions, he said, "good fortune and royalty is to be your fate, provided that you support the religion of Islām."

At this time I repented (of my follies), and left off playing chess; I strictly adhered to the law, and followed the dictates of religion; I also made a vow never to injure any creature, and whenever I did so by chance, was very sorry for it; thus one day having unintentionally trodden on an Ant, I felt as if my foot had lost all its power; I constantly begged the intercession of the first Khalifs, and was benevolent to all mankind.

In the year 756, I attained my twentieth year, and having reached the age of maturity, my father Teragay made over to me a number of tents, sheep, camels, slaves, servants, and attendants, from which during this year I gained much profit. The first arrangement I made of my private affairs was this, I gave the command of eighteen slaves to one slave, to whom I gave the title of Aun Bashy, and I named every twenty horses a (Tavyleh) stable, and every hundred camels a (Kuttar) string, and every thousand sheep a (Gileh) flock, and gave each of these in charge of a particular slave, and allotted to each of them, a certain share of the profits. During this year I was again very unwell, and a physician of Samerkund having administered pomegranates to me, I was seized with a violent palpitation, and became quite insensible, upon which