them dresses of honour.* I also gave coats to all the other captives, and released them, and I took particular notice of all my own officers and soldiers that had been wounded in the battle. I then despatched the Amyrs Syf Addeen and Jaku to take possession of the city of Samerkund.

Soon after this event, my (Keravulan) scouts brought information that Alyas Khuaje, with the Jete army, had encamped on the (South) bank of the Khujend river, but had postponed crossing; I therefore gave Shyr Behram the command of the (Heravul) first line, and sent him off. I then mounted my horse and proceeded towards them; on hearing of my approach, the enemy immediately crossed, and when I arrived at the river, not a vestige of them was to be seen. I therefore ordered my camp to be pitched on the bank of the river; but as the air was very hot, it disagreed with me, and the wind struck me; but after three days I recovered.

My mind being now at ease with regard to the Jetes, I resolved to amuse my army by a general hunt, and in this manner (hunting and coursing) we reached the vicinity of Samerkund. The inhabitants of Samerkund came out to meet me, and were lavish in their praises, saying, " right has gained its right," and held up their hands in prayers for my prosperity; having thus established myself at Samerkund, I sent an escort to bring (my wife) Aljay Türkān Aghā, with the remainder of my followers, from Gurmsyr in Systān.

A. D. 1364.

CHAPTER XVI.

In the year 766, I attained my thirtieth year, and having cleared the whole country of Maveralnaher of the Jetes, by the force of my sword, I considered that as there is only one God in the universe, there should only be one monarch in a kingdom, to whom all the inhabitants should be obedient, and by whom sedition should be annihilated.

As at this time, all the leaders of the different hordes and tribes, and the various chieftains, found that the countries of Maveralnaher and Turkestan, were freed from the tyranny of the Jetes, each of them trusting to the strength and support of their respective followers, began to assume independence; I therefore deemed it requisite to let them know, that whoever obeyed my orders, should be protected, but that I would severely punish any one who proved refractory.

As the greater number of the hordes and tribes proffered their allegiance to

* Timur wished to have liberated them, but they were put to death by order of Amyr Hussyn. Sherifaddeen's History.

me, and acknowledged me as their (Kelantur) superior, Amyr Hussyn became jealous, wishing to be himself the Sovereign. He therefore assembled a number of the inferior chiefs, and after consultation, they determined, that as I was not a (Tureh) descendant of the imperial family, but only one of the (Kerachu) family of the Commander in Chief's progeny, I had no right to assume the superiority.

When I was informed of this circumstance, I sent them the following message; " he who wishes to embrace the bride of royalty, must kiss her across the edge of the sharp sword; I have defeated Alyas Khuajē and the Jete army, without any confederate, and the kingdom is mine." They replied, "our (Kelantur) Sovereign must be a descendant of Jagtay Khān;" and in consequence of this determination, they raised Kabul Shah Aghlan, a descendant of Jagtay Khān, but who had become a Dervish to the sovereignty or Khanship; and having stripped off his beggars' weeds, clothed him in the robe of state, and supplied him with all the requisites of royalty, and placed him on the throne of sovereignty.

On hearing of this, I called (Kuriltay) an assembly of all the nobles and chieftains of my party, and having marched to Kesh, took up my residence there for the winter; Amyr Hussyn moved at the same time to his former abode of Sali Seray.*

When spring returned, I received intelligence that the Jete army having marched from the Desht Kipchak, were again about to invade the province of Maveralnaher; as soon as this news reached Amyr Hussyn and the other chieftains, who had raised Kabul Shāh to the sovereignty, they said among themselves, if we wish again to repel the Jetes, we must make up our quarrel with the Amyr Timur, and unite him with us, by acknowledging him as the superior, and by being obedient to him, till the Jetes are driven back." In consequence of this determination, they wrote me a joint letter, apologizing for their former conduct, and throwing themselves upon my benevolence and generosity.

When information of this union of all the chiefs was carried to Mulk Behader, the preceptor of the young Khān, Kabul Shāh, he very unjustly put the youth to death, and came to congratulate me on having attained the (Kelantury) sovereignty, I abused him and said, "it is not fit that the murderer of a King should live;" I therefore delivered him over to the heirs of the murdered Prince, that they might retaliate on him; and I sent a message to the chiefs, saying, " as you have now acknowledged my superiority, I will march with my own followers to the bank of the Khujend river, and I will defend it in such a manner, that the Jetes shall not be able to pass over."

* It was situated on the northern bank of the Jihūn, near Termuz.

CHAPTER XVII.

The arrangement I made for the third war with the Jetes, was this; when I collected six thousand horse, I formed them into seven divisions, and marched towards the Jetes; when I reached the village of Akyar, I was informed that the enemy were very numerous, and were advancing very rapidly; I therefore halted at Akyar, and sent off an express to hasten Amyr Hussyn; when he drew near, I again marched and crossed the Khujend river, and then fortified its (northern) bank; I also sent out spies for information, these soon returned, and informed me that the Jete army was encamped on the banks of the Badam river; that Shuknum Behader commanded the right wing, Hajy Beg the left, Alyas Khuajë the centre and Kipchak Behader the advanced line.

In consequence of this intelligence, I new modelled my forces; I gave the command of the right, which consisted of Amyr Hussyn's troops, to Belanchy Arlat; the advanced line was under charge of Melk Behader, and the left, with the Kipchāk tribe, was led by Amyr Sarbuga; I took post with the left, leaving Amyr Jakū and other chiefs with the reserve; I kept a few of my confidential officers about myself; when I had made this arrangement, Amyr Hussyn crossed the river with one thousand horse, and drew up his army.

Every thing being in proper order, I said to Amyr Hussyn, " it is not advantageous that we should make a general engagement, I will advance and attack the enemy with my forces, if you will faithfully promise to protect my rear, or if you choose to lead, I will support you; at this time we were more numerous than the enemy, and our troops were therefore presumptuous; but, according to custom, I consulted the Koran, and this verse opened, "when you are proud of your numbers, you shall be defeated, but God will finally give you the victory;" on which I became strong of heart.

But Amyr Hussyn would not attend to my request of dividing our armies, saying, “do not let us separate, but let us advance in line, and attack the foe;" I again replied, "it is not to our advantage to fight them thus; let us attack them in the Cossack manner;" but he would not listen to my advice.

Being without choice, I yielded to his opinion, and he drew out our armies. In a short time, the (Munkelay) skirmishers of the enemy came close to us, and the light troops of both sides charged each other; after which, the advanced lines came to blows, and some squadrons under command of Zindē Khushm, made a furious attack on Amyr Hussyn's right, which fell into disorder, but several of his chiefs kept their ground; Alyas Khuaje then sent a division under

1

charge of Amyr Shumsaddyn, to repeat the attack; this leader approached very near to Hussyn; I, seeing that we were likely to be defeated, made a desperate charge with seventeen squadrons on Shumsaddyn; upon this, fearing to oppose me, he drew in his reins, and turned his face to flight. Having thus routed him, I made a charge on the (Kul) centre of Alyas Khuajē, and having worsted them, I sent a message by Taban Behader, to Amyr Hussyn, " desiring him to come to me immediately, and the victory would be compleated by the total flight of the enemy."

Amyr Hussyn behaved like a blockhead, abused my messenger, and said, what, am I a coward, that he thus summons me in front of the army." Again I sent Mulk Mehedy, who was one of his relations, to request that he would come up, as the enemy were just on the point of giving way; Amyr Hussyn was again angry with him, and said, " be patient, till I can unite "be patient, till I can unite my broken troops;" Mulk Mehedy replied, " Amyr Timur has defeated the first line of the enemy, and is now engaged with the reserve which is about to give way; if your reserve will only make its appearance, no doubt the enemy will flee;" on which Amyr Hussyn struck him, and sent him back.

When Mulk Mehedy returned to me, I saw that he was much downcast, but did not tell me that he had been struck, only said, "it is a folly to assist this stupid fellow; the scoundrel wishes that we should uselessly endanger our lives, while he may escape from the vortex of danger." From this hint, I saw that it was Amyr Hussyn's wish to make me a mouthful for the jaws of the enemy. As I had at that time compleatly defeated the right of the adversary, and saw no prospect of assistance from Amyr Hussyn, I desisted from further fighting, and forming my troops in order of battle, I took post on the bank of a rivulet which ran through the plain.

When the enemy saw that I had discontinued the fight, and having collected my men, had taken post in the field, they being much fatigued, were rejoiced, and also took post in the plain.

That night my saddle was my bed, and my officers formed a circle around me; I however sent out scouts on all sides, to bring intelligence; whilst in this situation, a messenger came from Amyr Hussyn, to apologize for his misconduct, to express his sorrow and regret for what had past, and to request that I would recommence the fight; I sent back the messenger to say, " that we had lost the opportunity; that when I had broken the enemy, it would then have been easy to have conquered them; that now they were all collected and formed in order, it would be useless to make any attempt on them."

Having thus passed the night on the field of battle, and the horses having

rested, as soon as the morning dawned, we performed our prayers; when the sun rose, the enemy being able to see the situation of my army, beat their drums, and began to practice incantations.*

In consequence, a very heavy rain fell, and the plain became such a slough, that our horses could scarcely move; notwithstanding this, my warriors from their excess of bravery, and sense of honour, beat their drums, drew their swords, spurred on their steeds, and advanced through the mud and slough; I also ordered the trumpets to sound, and dashed forward.

About this time, a (Yedchy) magician was seized by my people; when they struck off his head, the storm ceased: I then ordered the troops to charge, which they did, and dispersed the enemy; they continued the pursuit, while I halted in the plain, and caused the music of victory to sound.

Whilst in this situation, the (Tugh) flag of Amyr Shumsaddyn, the general of the Jete army, came in sight, followed by all his troops; at this moment I had only two thousand horse with me, I directed one thousand of them to charge the enemy, which they did in so brave a manner, that they broke the first line, and reached the flag, but the second line then came to the assistance of the first, and the battle continued from morning till night; till at length nearly one thousand of my two thousand men were killed; "to God alone belongs power and might."

As the night came on, my troops that were dispersed, rejoined me, and I found that by this calamity, I had lost a thousand warriors; my officers were therefore of opinion, that in consequence of this misfortune, and the want of cooperation by Amyr Hussyn, it was requisite that we should retrogade some marches towards Kesh, where being joined by all my detachments, I might then make head against the Jetes; we therefore set out for Kesh.

From this event, I found by experience, that in whatever army there are two generals, discord must ensue, and I resolved never again to unite with Amyr Hussyn, or to appoint two generals to one army.

When we had reached the vicinity of Kesh, all my troops, that had been dispersed, joined me, and I again formed my army. At this time, Amyr Hussyn came and encamped at the distance of four miles, and being much ashamed of his misconduct, he sent a person to inform me, that it was his opinion we should take all our hordes and tribes with us, and cross the (Oxus) Jihūn,

* See Petis de la Croix's History, page 84. It is remarkable that Timur does not mention this battle, called the Slough, in his Designs.

+ In Baber's Memoirs, mention is also made of the powers of the magicians of Tūrkestān, and the wonderful effects of the Stone Jeddy.