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informed that such is the case of your country, I am convinced it cannot be subdued." He also wrote to the King, "Whereas I have discovered that your disposition resembles that of our former just Monarchs, I have not injured your country, but having withdrawn my army, have ceased from attacking you. Farewell."

12th. I asked the blessings of the Hermits, of the other inspired and holy persons, and besought their prayers; I also protected the Anchorets and the Dervishes, I never vexed them, but captivated their hearts; I exerted myself in arranging the affairs of the Musselmāns, and avoided killing any of their people; I paid particular respect to the descendants of the Prophet, and was cautious never to degrade or injure any of that noble race; I also shunned the discourse of the wicked and ungodly;

For I had heard that when God elects a person to the government of a country, and places in his hands the reins of authority over mankind, in order that he may rule them with justice, if he conducts himself with equity and propriety, his kingdom endures, but if on the contrary, he is guilty of injustice and tyranny, and commits unlawful actions, the Lord renders him childless, and takes away his Dominion and Sovereignty, to give them to another ;

Wherefore in order to preserve my Sovereignty, I took Justice in one hand, and Equity in the other hand, and, by the light of these two lamps, I kept the palace of Royalty illuminated ;

As I had heard that just Kings are the Shadow of God, and that the best King is he who imitates the disposition of the Lord, in forgiving sinners, I followed the examples of those just Kings, and forgave my enemies.

CHAPTER II.

I appointed four righteous Ministers to govern my dominions, the first of these was the praiseworthy Mahmūd, commonly called the Meteor of Khorasan, the next was Nasir Addeen; I gave them positive orders that they were never to advise me to do any thing that was unjust, that they themselves should never deviate from the path of rectitude, nor mis-represent evil for good, that they should always tell me the truth, and never deceive me by falsehood, and that they should not pry into the wealth and property of my subjects.

For I had been informed that whenever God Almighty exalts any person to the throne of Sovereignty, he confers on him special dignity and wisdom, by means of which he renders mankind obedient to him, this virtue is a ray of the Grace of God which shines on the Monarch, and as long as he is grateful for that favour, his fortune and dominion continue to increase.

Thus when I reviewed my army in the plains of Anatolia, and found that it extended fifteen miles in length, I considered that this innumerable host were all obedient to me, and returned thanks to God, for having made so many of his creatures subservient to my will, although but a weak mortal like themselves.

When I mentioned this subject to the learned of my court, they said, the Grace of God has thrown on you a Divine ray, which is called "the Shadow of God," as the Prophet hath said, " a just King is the shadow of God," by means of which shadow a just Monarch keeps mankind in subjection, and from the dread of that shadow, the people are obedient, and his power and authority become current over the empire; wherefore as long I have been seated on the throne of Sovereignty, I have been ever grateful for that favour, and have constantly paid respect to the orders of God, by shewing kindness to his creatures, and have always conducted myself with equity and justice.

In consequence of this determination, when I had reached my twenty-first year, I resigned the guidance of my conscience into the hands of the Pole star of religion, Shaik Zyn Addeen Abu Beker, Tatyabady, upon which occasion he bound round my loins his own shawl-girdle, he then placed his own cap on my head, and put on my finger a ruby ring, on which was engraved, (Rāsty va Rūsty) Righteousness and Salvation, and said, " the aurora of your good fortune will shortly dawn, for I have seen by inspiration, that in obedience to the orders of the chief of the descendants of the Prophet (Aly) a man of God will become your tutelar Saint, it is not convenient that you should now see him, but, the time will come, when he shall see you, and you shall see him." Thus when I was seventy years of age, and was returning in A. H. 806, from the conquest of Anatolia, I paid my respects to the Kutb al Aārifyn, (Pole star of Wisdom), Shaikh Sudder Addeen Ardebelly, and having begged his blessing, requested that he would allow one of his disciples to accompany me, to be my spiritual guide; he replied, "in the Mountain of Salaran, there is a fountain, the water of which is sometimes cold, sometimes warm, go thither, and the first person that shall come there to perform his ablutions, and say his prayers, will be your guide:" in compliance with the commands of the Shaikh, I went up to the fountain, performed my ablutions, and having said my prayers, waited with anxiety to see who should come; to my great surprise, the first person who came to the fountain in the morning, made his ablutions and prayed, was my Head Groom, (Myr Akhūr);

* See Appendix IV.

the second and third day, the same circumstances were repeated, I was astonished and said to myself, surely the Shaikh has made a mistake, but addressing myself to the man, I said, "O Syed, I have hitherto considered you as one of my inferior servants, how is it that you have attained this dignity and honour;" he replied, by order of the Kutb al Aktab, (Star of Stars), even from the very commencement of your Sovereignty, I have been the firm supporter of your government; he then began to say his prayers, in which I joined him; during this religious act, I experienced both delight and inspiration. When we had finished our prayers, he said, "O Prince you are at this moment the Guest of God, whatever the guest asks of his host, is gratuitously given;" accordingly I wished for Faith, he replied, "the faith in Muhammed is eternal;' it is a city where those who encompass it proclaim, 'there is no God but God,' and those in the interior reply, it is known there is no God but God;' That city is the Gate of Gates, and those who enter or come forth from it, are constantly repeating those words;" at this time I bent down my head in prostration, when I again raised my head, I saw that my companion had resigned his soul to his Creator; I was much affected. When I reported the circumstances I had seen to the Shaikh, he replied, " the arrangement of the affairs of every country, and the power of placing and displacing of Monarchs, with the bestowing of Kingdoms on the Worthy, and taking them from the Unworthy, is in the hands of the True Worshippers, who are the Agents of God; every country has its peculiar Guardian, or Patron Saint, appointed by the Kutb al Aktab, whilst the Guardian supports the Monarch, the country flourishes, but otherwise it falls to decay: * as long as the Guardian exists, the State prospers, but whenever he is withdrawn it declines, and if another Patron is not appointed in his stead, that dominion is shortly subverted." The Shaikh continued, "the Man of God, who had charge of the Kingdom of Kyser, died this year, on which account you have been easily victorious over him." I considered this was a warning, that my turn would soon come, but as I had still hopes that another Patron would be appointed in the room of my deceased saint, I made an offering to the Shaikh of four thousand captives, natives of that country, (Rum)‡ in order to supplicate his intercession.

* The Shaikh must have received some imperfect information of the Patron Saints of Europe, unless the invention is Asiatic, but I fear this passage will be thought very obscure.

Cæsar, being the title assumed by Bajazet and other Ottoman Emperors.

‡ See Appendix IV.

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CHAPTER III.

In the year 771, A. H. (A. D. 1378), when I had driven the Jetes * out of Tūran, and mounted the throne (of Tartary), and had directed the royal proclamation (Khutbeh) to be read from all the pulpits, the Syeds, the learned, the prelates, the rich, and the poor, all raised their hands (to heaven) in prayer for my prosperity; but Khuaje Abyd, who was the most celebrated prelate of that time, forbade them to pray for me, saying, " do not pray for this murderer and blood-thirsty Türk, who has put to death an innumerable number of Musselmāns, nor repeat blessings on him." On that very night the Khuaje dreamt that he saw me standing in the presence of his Holiness the Prophet, that he entered, and several times made his obedience to Muhammed, without his salutation being returned, at length he called out, " O Messenger of God, do you permit this wretch Timūr, who has murdered hundreds of thousands of your followers, and who has destroyed the habitations of so many Musselmāns, to stand near you, whilst you do not return the salutation of me who am the zealous supporter of your religion, and the establisher of your law?" his Holiness replied to him in an angry manner, "although Timür has shed much of the blood of my followers, as he has been the friend, the supporter, and respecter of my posterity and descendants, why dost thou forbid the people to pray for and bless him?" The Khuajē having awoke, came even during the night to me, and asked pardon : when this intelligence reached the people, they all raised their hands in prayer for my prosperity, and, considering me as supported by the Divine favour, bore witness to my right : in gratitude for this favour, I day by day shewed more respect, attention, and affection to the descendants of Muhammed, and esteemed myself as the elect of God.

Another circumstance which confirmed me in my opinion, that I had the Divine support, occurred in the year 804, when I invaded the country of Anatolia with four hundred thousand cavalry, and Bayazid had drawn out his army to oppose me; whilst I was reviewing my forces, a party of three hundred of the Arabs of Irāc, and Syeds of Kerbela and Nejef, commanded by Syed Muhammed Miftah, came to my assistance, I ordered them to be admitted, considering their coming as an auspicious omen, and a proof of the Divine aid. Syed Muhammed, who was also the standard bearer, advanced and said, " the fourth Khalif (Aly) appeared to me in a dream, and said to me, carry my white standard to the young Türk:" having consulted the principal persons of Nejef, they agreed that,

* The Translator has sometimes made use of the name Uzbek, by anticipation.

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you the Prince Timur, who have just invaded this country, are the person meant." I returned thanks to God for this special favour, and commanded that the history of the white standard should be recorded in the Royal Journals.

Soon after this, Aykē-Timür having come near me, called out, " may the victory be propitious;" I took the word Victory as an omen, and gave him. charge of the white standard, with orders to go and commence hostilities: on seeing the white standard, he was much affected, and set out to comply with my commands.

Another of the omens which afforded me much pleasure was this, when Tugleck Timür Khan, the descendant of Jengyz Khan, the first time he invaded Maveralnaher, and had crossed the Sihūn (Jaxartes), summoned all the chiefs to meet him. Hajy Berlas was afraid, and preferred emigration to remaining, therefore set out for Khorasan. I was also divided in my opinion what I should do, I therefore wrote to my Counsellor (Peer) for his advice, whether I should go and meet Tugleck Timür, or, having collected all my horde and tribe, proceed to Khorasan. He wrote me this answer:

"It was asked of the fourth Khalif Aly, ' if the heavens were bows, and the "earths the strings of those bows, and calamities were the arrows, and mankind "the butt of those arrows, and the archer should be God, to whom ought man"kind to flee for succour, the Khalif replied, that they should flee to God.' It is "therefore your business to advance towards Tugleck Timür, to embrace him, " and to pluck the bow and arrow from his arms. Farewell." *

From this letter I received much consolation, and I went and met Tugleck Timūr on the banks of the Khojend river; he was much rejoiced at my coming; he made me one of his counsellors, employed me and consulted me on all occasions, until he received intelligence that his chiefs had raised the standard of rebellion in the Desht Kipchak, on this subject he consulted me, whether he should go himself to quell them, or should send another army to do so; I said to him, " in your going there is only one danger, but in sending, there are two, the wise man is he who chooses the lesser danger;" hereon he praised me exceedingly: again he consulted me respecting the government of Maveralnaher, I said to him, " your government resembles a tent, let the poles thereof be made of the wood of equity, and let the rope pins be firmly fixed in the ground of justice, so that every person, who enters the tent, may pass out in safety."

"Act kindly to the Syeds, the learned, and the prelates of that country, and preserve the people under the shadow of your justice, do good to the good, and

* See first Design, page 15, Davy's Institutes and Sequel.

† An extensive region situated to the north of the Caspian Sea, bounded on the west by the Volga.

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